


American Dream: Trainer's Paradise

by MimicMariana (LaEmperatrizMariana)



Series: ☆ It's "Unova" like "Universe" ☆ [5]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Body Horror, Gen, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22261849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaEmperatrizMariana/pseuds/MimicMariana
Summary: N spends most of his life living in a trainer's paradise. A straightforward story about N's busy day where he engages in Pokémon Go/Sword & Shield-styled gameplay and training. As well as doing some of his errands, like picking up one of his sisters from school.
Series: ☆ It's "Unova" like "Universe" ☆ [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1482413
Kudos: 5





	1. Priorities

**Author's Note:**

> This story was beta-read by: [Tentaculiferous](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Tentaculiferous/profile).
> 
> Title, summary, and possibly part of the plot are clearly based off of Stevie Wonder's "[Pastime Paradise](https://youtu.be/_H3Sv2zad6s)".
> 
> I had originally intended for this fic to be a coming of age story. (N realizing that he's been living a lie because there's many things he's been sheltered from as he grew up. But as an adult, he's become more observant and more attuned with his surroundings, learning the darker truths about the reality around him.) _But_ I wanted to hurry up and post this fic because of its concept (the gameplay). Fortunately, I had written like 8 chapters that all seemed to take place in a single day, so I decided it should be about N's busy day and wrapped it up like this.
> 
> Please note, like the other fics in this series, this is an AU where Ghetsis has won and N is the King of Unova. But you don't need to read these to enjoy this fic.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N and his father's Hydreigon get ready to run an errand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team Plasma had won a few months ago because there was no one talented-enough to beat them, among the gym leaders. Supposedly, there was a very capable short brown-haired girl but her mom didn't allow her to go to Professor Juniper's lab and get taught the basics. So while this girl is sad back at home, N and his family are celebrating.

Victory had come at a price. Despite his lifelong dream to become King of Unova, simply because he wanted all the power, all the money, and to have everyone submit to his whims, Ghetsis was beginning to hate winning. Due to his political obligations, Ghetsis no longer had the time to tend to the various pokémon who lived at Team Plasma Castle and he wasn’t taking it very well. (He felt he was letting down all the pokémon who had supported him over the years.) Fortunately, the election results hadn’t granted his son, King Natural, absolute power. Otherwise, he’d have more work cut out for himself since he was the one to do the actual ruling behind the scenes.

Ghetsis went to check up on his beloved Stoutland, before he got dressed. He felt guilty for not interacting with her much because he’d been so busy. He met her as a Lillipup when he was a boy, and was tasked with caring for her because she was the sickly runt of the litter. Being “extra small”, made Ghetsis reluctant to take her on his journey. However, she was determined to join him that she battled all the other “small” pokémon in the castle until she leveled herself up and evolved into Herdier, giving him no choice but to add her to his party to award her determination. Nowadays, she spent time at home, protecting the property and rescuing the other pokémon who locked themselves in or out, or simply got stuck somewhere.

Recently, she surprised Ghetsis and the rest of the family when it was discovered she was pregnant. Ghetsis prepared a bed for her in his room, so she’d have a proper nest to lay the egg. Early in the morning, Stoutland laid two eggs and began to incubate them. (Pokémon, for the most part, usually laid one or two eggs. Although, only one egg was usually viable, and the other was not.) Since Stoutland trusted him, Ghetsis was able to get close to her and gently moved aside her fur to examine her eggs. He let out a small gasp, before turning around to grab his phone and stepping out of the room to make a call.

As soon as he was gone, Stoutland barked, “Damn it!”

Hydreigon, who was still curled up in Ghetsis’ bed began to laugh.

“That’s not funny!” cried Stoutland.

“It is funny because you didn’t believe that eggs can be from the father’s species,” said Hydreigon. He got out of bed. Towering over Stoutland, he said to her, “Let me see.”

Stoutland moved over slightly to reveal her eggs. One egg was light brown with some black spots and a large yellowish daisy-shaped blotch. The other egg was an even lighter shade of brown and had a large yellow heart on it with a thick lime-green outline. She rotated both eggs, before sitting down on them to resume the incubation.

“So that’s how _his_ eggs look like, huh,” said Hydreigon. “It’s a cute egg.”

Ghetsis entered the room, accompanied by Sage Gorm who also looked like he rolled out of bed. Ghetsis knelt down again and showed Gorm the egg that had a heart on it.

“Oh…that’s a Yamper,” said Gorm. “It’s a Puppy Pokémon native to Galar. I left my pokédex back in my room, but these are electric-types. They’re quite popular because they’re very friendly and playful. The kids would love it.”

Ghetsis looked up Yamper on his phone. “Oh…I remember yours. He saved us a lot of pokéballs back in the day.”

Gorm pulled out a small pouch he had brought with him and gave Stoutland a Calcium tablet. Hydreigon whimpered, because he wanted some Calcium too. Ghetsis turned around and said to him, “This is a special Calcium vitamin for female pokémon who have laid eggs. This isn’t for you, since it doesn’t raise your Special Attacks like the regular Calciums.”

Hydreigon frowned, because he wanted to eat it anyway. Gorm sighed and threw the pouch at Ghetsis, who in turn fed the remaining three vitamins to Hydreigon. Although the vitamin supplement tasted nice, despite its chalky texture, the fact it had no effect on his stats disappointed him. Fortunately, for Stoutland, Gorm had more Calcium tablets in his room and was planning to purchase more while running his errands.

Ghetsis turned to Hydreigon and said to him, "Don't you have an appointment today? Grab your shoes and go get ready."

Hydreigon looked at the clock, jumped out of bed, opened a drawer, pulling out his red and black sneakers, before leaving the room in a hurry. He caught up with N, who helped him put on his shoes.

"I'm glad that this appointment worked out," said Hydreigon, as he watched N tie his shoes with his lesser heads. "Given this recent political tension, I didn't think it was possible."

"There's always a political reason to allow it, regardless," said N. "They don't want to give us another reason to distrust them or to look bad in front of the public. Okay, do you want to get in the ball or grind for 'candies'?"

"Grind," replied Hydreigon. "I like a good walk. Hopefully, the weather is good. I don't want to ruin these shoes."

"Today is going to be partly cloudy and windy," said N as he grabbed his backpack and skateboard. He and Hydreigon left the castle together, on their way to Opelucid City. As they were leaving, N's Zorua caught up with them and begged to come along. N placed him on his shoulder like how trainers walk their Eevees, despite being twice the size of an Eevee.

Just as quickly as they left, news of Stoutland laying and her subsequent incubation, quickly spread throughout the castle. Fortunately, Ghetsis' bedchamber was impossible to access without his or his pokémon's permission. Stoutland was able to incubate in peace without anyone barging in and bothering her. She was also given a small remote with a button, which she could press with her paw and alert Ghetsis that she was in need of something. Tired, Stoutland just spent the day sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * The first paragraph is based on what a kid told me. He was listening to Youngboy Never Broke Again and said he wanted to be the King of the United States. When I asked him why, he replied, “I want all the power, all the money, and for everyone to be my slaves.” This is literally what canon!Ghetsis wanted and why I'm convinced that Ghetsis is an innocent character because he thinks like a 10 year-old boy.
>   * Like I mentioned in my other fics, Ghetsis has more pokémon than just the ones on his team. This is the same for other characters in this AU. They have their teams, and then these other pokémon.
>   * Gorm is from Galar because his name is Gaelic for “blue”. Other pokémon he has besides Boltund, are Sirfetch’d, and Runegrigus (who everyone erroneously calls “Cofagrigus”.) 
>   * Pokémon in this AU can earn candies with other trainers under special circumstances. In this case, Hydreigon can earn candies because N is his trainer’s child, and the child is taking him out for a walk since his trainer is busy.
> 



	2. Shortcuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N takes a scheduled shortcut and discovers evidence of a crime, before resuming his trip.

As N skateboarded down Victory Road, he went past a couple of trainers who were also walking their buddy pokémon. Many of them couldn't help but stare at Hydreigon as soon as they noticed his shoes, and at N’s Zorua who was riding on Hydreigon’s back. Clearly the way N traveled down Victory Road with his _two_ buddy pokémon, meant he emerged victorious and these other trainers couldn't help but be intimidated by him. (Especially, since walking one buddy pokémon was already difficult.)

Hydreigon was unconcerned about the trainers. He was too busy trying to contain his excitement, which his lesser heads didn't even bother to do. They were extremely happy. (For this reason, the other trainers assumed N had won.)

It is said that when buddy pokémon are very excited, like Hydreigon, they produce twice as many candies. These candies are energy reserves produced by the pokémon themselves. They will often consume these candies when they're training, to better learn new moves. But these candies can only be consumed by the specific evolution families. (For example, N's Zorua cannot use Hydreigon's candies, but he can use candies from other Zoruas or Zoroarks.) This tactic is used among colony-dwelling pokémon for survival. They often store all their candies in special locations for their colony mates to use.

As trio traveled together, Hydreigon said, "I miss a good outing like this. You wouldn't believe how disappointed I was when we no longer marched to the speeches."

"Father said he worried about assaults," replied N. "He wanted to prevent violence, even if that was just battling the assailants and defeating them. So it was best to fast-travel in an unmarked car."

Hydreigon growled. He had disliked Ghetsis’ unwillingness to battle. It almost seemed like Ghetsis was afraid to do so. Zorua frowned, confused as to why anyone would be mean to Team Plasma members.

Meanwhile, N was annoyed that Route 10 was closed for repairs. (Shortly after Team Plasma’s victory, a landslide occurred, damaging the road in the process. Despite trying to increase funding for the Unovan Public Transportation System, these repairs wouldn't be completed any time soon.) Instead, N had no choice but to go down Route 23 and into Lacunosa Town, bypassing the Giant Chasm and Route 22. 

The trainers on Victory Road saw N go off-road and feared the worst. It was highly discouraged for anyone to go off-road due to wild pokémon ambushes. One of them, a concerned female backpacker shouted, “Yo dude! Stay on the road! Earlier this week there were reports of a cyclist who was devoured by a wild Drapion because they wanted to take a shortcut.”

“You can’t tell me what to do, Mae,” replied N.

The backpacker, whose name was Mae, blinked in confusion. She had no idea how he knew her name and his voice _did_ sound very familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. N picked up his skateboard and gave it to Hydreigon, as if it were a Held Item. He headed off-road and disappeared into the brush with his pokémon.

One of the other trainers asked Backpacker Mae, “So you know this guy?”

It was then that she remembered N’s identity. After all, she was once a Team Plasma grunt. She had left the team when it was time for her to go to college last year. She was still a college student, enrolled in Opelucid University (which happened to be the Seven Sages’ alma mater.) She felt extra embarrassed because N was clearly traveling with his father's distinct-looking Hydreigon. (He's "distinct" because his wings were untattered and his tail was intact too. Of course, Hydreigon proudly wore his illegal red and black basketball shoes.)

“I had seen him around back Middle School,” replied Mae. “His name is…Nathaniel. He got homeschooled for some reason. I think his parents thought that the AP classes were too easy for him, so they wanted him in extra-challenging schooling. He was a very good trainer.” 

Mae looked at her companions who believed her lie. She had made many friends in college, but was hesitant to tell them that she used to be a Team Plasma grunt, fearing that they’d reject her. However, Mae held no grudge against Team Plasma. She learned a lot about pokémon grooming while with them, something that her new friends found impressive. She was still unsure about rejoining them after her eventual graduation.

Meanwhile, N had traveled deep into the woods. There, he, Hydreigon, and Zorua stumbled upon an abandoned damaged bicycle. N's eyes widened because Mae's warning was true. There had been signs of a struggle. 

"If it wasn't for our appointment, I'd say we should look for survivors," said Hydreigon. "Drapions aren't smart-enough to crack open pokéballs and drink the pokémon inside of them."

N pulled out his pokédex and placed a marker on the map. Hydreigon convinced him to return and investigate. They continued on their way until they arrived in the northern part of Lacunosa Town. 

When they arrived in Lacunosa Town, they found Drayden waiting for them in his black MitsuBisharp, just like he said he would. A week earlier, Drayden had sent Ghetsis a text message, offering to drive to Team Plasma Castle. He had never explained why, under the assumption that Ghetsis watched the news and heard about the missing cyclist. However, Ghetsis never kept up with the news, so he told Drayden to just meet up with him in Lacunosa Town.

They had barely greeted each other when one of N's pokéballs shook in his bag and let herself out. She was his Froslass. N was surprised to see her. Drayden opened the back passenger doors for Froslass and N. (Zorua was going to sit on N's lap.) He told Hydreigon to get in the front passenger seat.

"As expected from a Dragon-type expert," said Hydreigon as he sat down and put on his seatbelt. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," replied Drayden. He had been around enough dragons to understand their language, even if he was unable to speak it.

Froslass narrowed her eyes and whispered to N, "Was this man not one of the gym leaders who was foolish to think he'd be able to defeat Team Plasma?"

"Yes," replied N. "It's the reason we didn't want him to pull up to the castle."

Unconcerned, Hydreigon said to Drayden, "How is my daughter and her mother doing? It's been like what, five years?"

Drayden narrowed his eyes and said, "They're back at the gym with Iris."

Hydreigon's lesser heads looked at each other. He had become too accustomed for his family to completely understand him. Though Drayden's guesses were still pretty spot on.

"Excuse me, sir," said N. "Froslass and Zorua want to know about how your dragons are related to my father’s Hydreigon. I don't know enough myself to explain it to them."

"Yes, your father and I bred our Hydreigons because I wanted to give Iris a Deino with excellent stats who was easy to train," said Drayden. "Keep in mind that Iris was about 5 years old when this happened. I heard much about how docile and loyal your father's dragon is. I also heard that Hydreigon mating habits were as Brutal as their classification. So of course, I wanted my dragon and her egg to be safe."

Although N disliked pokémon breeding, Drayden's concerns were reasonable. After all, he wanted what was best for his dragon and didn't want her to get needlessly hurt. Drayden began to tell N his anecdote on the ride back to his gym.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * I’m glad this fic was still in progress when Niantic decided to update the Buddy feature in Pokemon Go, with the hearts. So it saved me the need to retcon this into it afterwards.
>   * The cyclist being attacked by a Drapion is a reference to [this Sword and Shield footage I saw on Twitter](https://twitter.com/rome_nomi/status/1198257439520387072).
>   * In B2W2, NPC Backpacker “Mae” stated that she was a former Team Plasma grunt. This is that same NPC, except that here she obviously left for college since she can’t study and “rescue” pokémon at the same time.
>   * Opelucid University doesn’t exist in canon. Although I had mentioned it before in other fics, the reason why I felt the need to add it is because colleges in the USA often compete with each other, at least when it comes to sports. The canon college, Castelia University, needed a rival to have that authentic American experience. (OU is the bad guy college, CU is the good guy college.)
>   * I don’t know if pokéballs could be cracked open like eggs or coconuts to have their juices drunk from them. It’s probably not the case because a lot of fanon insists otherwise. Still, it is likely that Hydreigon said this as a morbid joke to lighten the mood but it was only funny to him.
> 



	3. Arrangement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their drive to Opelucid Gym, Drayden tells N and his pokemon the story of how he and Ghetsis made a deal to breed their Hydreigons, so Iris could have a baby Deino to train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "About five years ago" means between 2005-2006.

About five years ago, Drayden approached Ghetsis after he finished his speech in the Village of Dragons. (Unlike other locations, Ghetsis tended to stay longer afterwards and answered more questions.) He explained to Ghetsis that he wanted his young granddaughter to have a Deino of her own to train. The safest approach was for her raise a Deino who hatched from an egg. (Drayden also wanted the Deino to have excellent stats.) Although Ghetsis was bothered by the proposition since it encouraged training, he couldn't reject Drayden’s proposition in front of the dragon-loving crowd. 

Ghetsis smiled and accepted Drayden's offer, much to the crowd's excitement. They shook hands and worked out when exactly they'd take their dragons to the Day-Care. Drayden was happy that it had all gone according to plan. He knew asking Ghetsis publicly at the Village of Dragons would make it harder to refuse. After all, Drayden had made a promise to Iris that he was going to get her a Deino egg, so he had to make the arrangements work no matter the cost. His honor and integrity were at stake.

Fortunately, Ghetsis had started doing his speeches on a bimonthly basis back in 1994. (Mostly due to family issues because he felt his family’s well-being was a higher priority.) Ghetsis had plenty of free time to accommodate a Day-Care visit.

The Day-Care was located on Route 3, between Striaton City and Nacrene City. Drayden showed up in a double-breasted tweed suit, while Ghetsis wore a navy tank top with a white partially unbuttoned long-sleeved shirt on top, and beige skinny jeans. His hair was up in a ponytail and he wore his sunglasses. The only reason Drayden recognized Ghetsis was because he sensed his draconic corruption, as did Ghetsis, who hadn’t noticed it until this particular encounter. (The rumors of Drayden personally training his pokémon, like Ghetsis had done were true.) It was early in the morning and they were the first there.

Ghetsis frowned and said politely, "I thought this was a casual affair. Apologies for arriving so under-dressed."

"It _is_ a casual affair," replied Drayden. "I've come _over-_ dressed. But I'm too used to dressing up nicely because that's what mother taught me. It's how it was done back in her native Kalos. The better dressed you are, the better the service you get."

"We don't do that here in Unova," said Ghetsis. "But I understand that some customs are hard to break. Especially, if they’re not wrong."

The Day-Care Man saw both men chatting to each other and allowed them to come in. Approaching the counter where they checked-in, Ghetsis pulled out his Master Ball where he kept his Hydreigon, setting it on the counter as he looked for his pokédex. Drayden pulled out his Great Ball and had his pokédex ready. The Day-Care Man scanned the pokédex to access Drayden’s Trainer ID for registration. He then scanned the pokéball which said it contained his female Hydreigon.

The Day-Care Man said to Drayden, "Due to the species' aggressive temperament, I'm going to have to charge you an additional fee. For both maintenance and safety."

Ghetsis gasped as soon as he saw the fee, "I have a _male_ Hydreigon."

"Yes, the fee is higher for males," said the Dare-Care Man. "They mate violently."

"I can assure you my Hydreigon is a gentleman," said Ghetsis. “He will not hurt her.”

"Don't worry about it, I'll pay the fees," interrupted Drayden.

Ghetsis sighed and gave the Day-Care Man his pokédex. He noticed the Day-Care Man's surprise when he read his name. Although Ghetsis was wearing a suit in the ID photo, he looked too different from his usual, more well-known ceremonial robes in it too. The Day-Care Man distrusted Ghetsis simply from his involvement with Team Plasma. But the Day-Care Man trusted Drayden, who was an honorable man of his word and a popular politician because he was just. Since this seemed like it was Drayden's plan, the Day-Care Man accepted the pokémon.

The dragons were summoned in a protective enclosure. Hydreigon had never gone to such a place before and turned to his trainer for instruction. Ghetsis whispered something to Hydreigon as the Day-Care Man watched in terror. Hydreigons were violently unpredictable and had been known to bite their trainers. But Ghetsis' Hydreigon remained calm. Since Hydreigon was going to stay at the Day-Care for two days, Ghetsis took off his shoes. The men spoke for a bit, before leaving the enclosure.

Hydreigon turned to look at the female Hydreigon, who was larger and stronger than him. Ghetsis had instructed him to romance her. Right away, Hydreigon realized he was set up to fail. How was he going to seduce a female who could easily kick his tail? He was too much of a nerd to strike up casual conversation with her, but he tried.

"Good morning, my name is Natural of the Giant Chasm," said Hydreigon. "My trainer is Lord Ghetsis Harmonia-Gropius V of Unova. We’ve known each other since we were young boys."

"Damn…," replied the female. "That's one hell of an introduction." She was well-aware that her trainer had found her a suitable mate. But she wasn't expecting this mate to be a Hydreigon Prince Charming. She could physically feel her friendship with Drayden increase. She then noticed that Natural was displeased with her reply, it seemed he was offended by her cursing. Her lesser heads panicked upon the realization. Drayden went through all the trouble to find her this handsome, polite Hydreigon and the first thing she did was mess it up. Thinking fast, she added, “Want to battle?”

Natural’s six eyes widened and he said, “Of course!”

The Hydreigon began to battle each other, as the Day-Care Man, Drayden and Ghetsis watched from a dark room. It was common for two unknown pokémon to battle each other, especially prior to intimacy. Since this was just a playful battle their HP didn’t fall lower than 70%.

Satisfied, Natural flared up his crested collars and began to do a courtship dance for Drayden’s Hydreigon. The full courtship dance had never been observed in captivity because Hydreigons insulted each other and then it devolved to senseless violence.

Drayden noticed that Ghetsis had turned around and he immediately realized why – Ghetsis didn’t want to watch their intimacy. After all, as a man who preached about pokémon equality, it was logical to feel this way about it. Drayden, on the other hand, was unbothered, much like the Day-Care Man. They were simply studying the pokémon’s interaction with each other since it’s something never seen before in captivity. Though Drayden felt some bias towards it. He was happy that his dragon was enjoying herself. After this initial copulation, the dragons laid down next to each other, snuggling with their necks and arm-necks intertwined.

Turning around, Ghetsis seemed to scold the other men with his gaze. It was then that the Day-Care Man noticed Ghetsis’ annoyance. He said to him, “I just needed to see how they’d interact. I still cannot believe that these are _actual_ Hydreigon. They were so sweet to each other that you’d think these were a pair of Appletuns in elaborate Hydreigon cosplays. The entire courtship has never been observed in captivity.”

Ghetsis rolled his eyes, “Of course it hasn't. Most captive Hydreigons I’ve seen are extremely uncomfortable. Ever since mine was a Deino, I’ve done my best to make him feel safe and comfortable. I’m sure Drayden has done the same for his. It’s the reason mine evolved into a Zweilous at level 40 instead of level 64. These pokémon are high-maintenance. If you’re not willing to bend over backwards for yours, then you’re unfit to keep one.”

“This is true,” said Drayden. “I find it baffling that this is little-known information outside of the Village of Dragons. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that their evolution line is classified as Irate, Hostile, and Brutal, respectively. People have come to expect that this pokémon is always irritable and hungry.”

The men shared their experiences with Hydreigon before departing. All Drayden knew was that both Hydreigons didn’t cause the Day-Care Man any trouble because they were both well-behaved. And when he returned the following Monday with Ghetsis to pick up their dragons, the Day-Care Man handed him a check with a refund for the fees. The refund consisted of the difference between the Hydreigon fee for both sexes and the regular Day-Care fee. The Day-Care Man also handed Drayden a Deino egg.

Drayden placed the egg in his incubator, while he traveled back to his gym. However, it didn’t stop there. As part of the agreement with Ghetsis, Drayden had to allow his Hydreigon to incubate her egg. This was inconvenient for Drayden, because his dragon couldn’t battle while she cared for her egg. But he made due with another of his pokémon, which he used as a replacement. However, seeing her lovingly tend to her egg, Drayden felt no regret in agreeing to let her incubate the egg herself.

Meanwhile, Iris was excited about the egg. She spent her time visiting the mother Hydreigon. And as instructed by Drayden, she also brought her food and water. Another lesser known fact about Hydreigons is that they are protective of children, just like many of the other dragon species. The mother dragon welcomed Iris’ presence and even allowed her to hold the hatchling Deino moments after she was born. Since then, Iris and her Deino became inseparable and Iris trained her baby Deino who was a very fast and eager learner. Much like her father and mother, Deino wanted to become more powerful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * Drayden is a cunning and equally determined man. There’s a reason that he’s both a mayor and a gym leader.
>   * Only reason I felt that the Day-Care needed to do registration is to justify that the breeding done there wasn’t exploitative. (Like puppy mills.)
>   * N is named after Ghetsis’ Hydreigon, because Ghetsis promised his favorite pokémon he would name his first [and only] son after him. This is also why N has a nickname because Ghetsis didn’t want his dragon to get confused when he was calling his child. (It happened.)
>   * I wanted to mention Appletuns, even though none star in actual scenes here.
> 



	4. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dragon family is reunited and N decides to participate in a raid at the gym.

They arrived at Opelucid Gym in a few minutes. Hydreigon got out of the car and darted inside. Ever since the breeding, he had been asking about his baby. He was always told she was “doing well”, but due to the tensions between Ghetsis, Team Plasma, and Drayden, he wasn’t allowed to see her. Now, by chance, he was finally able to meet her. After all, his trainer seemed to enjoy spending time with his children, and Hydreigon wanted to do the same with his daughter.

However, the first dragon Hydreigon ran into was the mother, who was happy to see him again. Before she could reply, he asked, "Where is our daughter? I've come to see her."

Although her main head remained calm her lesser heads were devastated. Clearly, Natural had no interest in her. After all she had told him, five years ago, that Drayden's Haxorus was her mate. She hadn't thought Natural would become so offended by this that he would refuse to mount her more times during their Day-Care stay. Fortunately, once was enough, at least for an egg. She replied, "She's with Iris. They're in the gym’s arena, battling right now. Just go straight down and you won't miss it."

"Thank you," said Natural as he hurried past her, as they raced to the arena. When they arrived, the mother Hydreigon gently floated down the stairs until she was court-side, to watch her daughter battle. Natural stood in front of the door, with his tiny feet touching the floor. 

In the arena’s battlefield, Iris and one of the gym staff members were battling each other. Iris had an extra small female Hydreigon on the field. N looked at the small Hydreigon. Even though she was in her final evolution, she was still clearly a very young pokémon.

N was more disturbed at the sight because he realized that young Hydreigon was Natural’s daughter. Natural, seemed unconcerned. In fact, he looked very proud that his young daughter had gained so much EXP at a young age. To him, she was a prodigy and his only concern was that she’d reach the level cap at 100 too young. He turned to N and said, “This child has surpassed us all. I couldn’t be any happier. She’s doing more than well.”

“You’re not bothered by the fact that she's a Hydreigon like you instead of a Deino or Zweilous?” asked N.

“Of course not,” replied Natural. “I think this might be better, since her lesser heads will have time to mature just like her main head and they won’t make fools out of her.” He glared at his lesser heads, who seemed to be very happy for his daughter.

Confused, N said, “So…all of this, is good?”

“Yes,” said Natural. “The problem with this competitive training is that trainers make the assumption that all pokémon want to live this way. There’s other pokémon who only want to enjoy human companionship and are unconcerned with gaining EXP. There’s nothing wrong with any one of these lifestyles, but often trainers don’t stop to think about what their pokémon want. These trainers only think about what _they_ hope to gain from ‘winning’.”

N and Natural moved aside, to let Drayden enter the arena. Drayden couldn’t help but be curious about N’s conversation with Natural. They were making the same chirps and purrs his dragons made when they were all interacting with each other in their downtime. Natural continued, “Even so, it’s hard to tell what your soul truly wants in life. All these years, I thought I craved victory. But then, ever since your father forgot some of his moves, he’s been more affectionate. It reminded me of why I made the attempt to approach him in the first place; I craved human companionship.”

Meanwhile, Iris finished up her battle and spotted N and Natural. Iris’ Hydreigon saw him too and looked at Iris, begging her to let her go meet her father. Smiling, Iris let her dragon run up to her father. Natural stopped talking and licked her three heads with his three tongues.

Drayden who had stepped onto the battlefield and called back his Hydreigon into her pokéball, whispered to Iris. “I was very wrong about the king. He can legitimately speak to pokémon.”

Iris was conflicted. N looked approachable and she had so many questions about her own pokémon that she wanted to ask him, because she felt the need to accommodate her pokémon properly. But N was also the enemy. After all, he was the leader of Team Plasma, which still confused Iris. (She didn’t understand why Team Plasma would pick some random kid as their leader and couldn’t help but be jealous that adults actually listened to him. Most adults she met, with the exception of Drayden, were quite dismissive of her and other kids when they had something important to say.)

“Are you saying that Team Plasma is right?” asked Iris.

Drayden let out a chuckle. He wanted to explain his thoughts on the matter, but was reminded of Ghetsis’ foolishness. It was too absurd for him to imagine such a naïve, sheltered prince being right about anything. “They’re wrong and I find this boy being around them, concerning. He seems like a good kid. Makes me wonder if he is being manipulated into believing their nonsense.”

N walked down into the arena with his three pokémon. Drayden was uncomfortable around N’s Froslass for two reasons – Froslasses were dangerous to men and Dragon-types are weak to Ice-types. To Drayden, N's Froslass was yet another piece of evidence that N was able to speak to pokémon. Froslasses don't listen to male trainers for some reason.

The Froslass sensed Drayden's discomfort and was pleased. She knew he wouldn't dare do anything to hurt N, whom she loved like a son. Zorua looked at N and asked, “What do we do now?”

“We just hang out, so that Natural can spend time with his daughter, in peace,” replied N.

The young Hydreigon began to talk excitedly about battling that N had a difficult time understanding her accent, she sounded like a girl from the boroughs. (Unlike Natural and the rest of the family who had a clear posh accent.) Iris didn't have this accent and neither did Drayden. N did notice that Drayden’s Hydreigon spoke with this accent, so it was possible that she got it from her mother.

“Iris, let’s show our guests the VIP room,” said Drayden. He signalled to N to follow them backstage. The VIP room that Drayden took them to was where the gym staff rested in between battles. Normally, this area is off-limits to the public, but since Drayden and Iris were both in charge of the gym, they could invite others there at their discretion.

Drayden led the kids and the pokémon to the VIP room, where the gym leaders and their staff got ready before their battles. It was the first time N had ever been to this area. Unlike the lobby, where everyone else waited, this was much more comfortable.

“Isn’t there going to be a raid today?” asked Iris.

“Yes,” said Drayden. “It’s why I specifically requested the visit be held today.” Unsure if N knew about how the Unovan League did the raids, Drayden continued, “Twice a month, there’s raids at certain gyms where trainers are given an opportunity to capture a rare pokémon. During these events, there is no battling in these gyms for the chance to earn badges, since the gym staff is making sure the event is running smoothly. And of course, I must ask you, your majesty, if you’re interested in participating. That way we can give you a raid pass, if you don’t have one.”

N looked at Drayden and Iris, and paused.

“I know,” replied N, remembering how he had once traveled to three different cities one day to attend their raids, when he first started as a trainer. (He wanted to rescue as many Eevees as he could. Although he felt it was worth it, the ordeal proved too exhausting for him to repeat.) He turned to his left and saw handwritten information on the dry-erase board.

“Which one is Kabuto again?” asked N. “I’m not familiar with foreign pokemon.”

Iris looked around and grabbed a small poster with a Kaputo printed on it. The poster description read as follows, “Kabuto. The Shellfish Pokémon. A Pokémon that was resurrected from a fossil found in what was once the ocean floor in modern-day Kanto. It is thought to have inhabited beaches 300 million years ago. It is protected by a stiff shell.” 

N’s eyes widened upon reading the description. Iris hadn’t paid much attention to the description until saw N’s expression and read it for herself. She panicked, not knowing what N’s stance towards the fossil pokémon was. “Okay, I get its name mixed up with its evolved form – Kabutops. I haven’t documented either of them on my pokédex yet.”

Froslass opened N’s backpack and pulled out his red pokédex, handing it to Drayden. Drayden walked over to a nearby counter and scanned the pokédex with a Barcode Scanner. It identified N as “King Natural Harmonia-Gropius I of Unova.” It also said that N had chosen a Zorua nicknamed, ‘Marrón’ as his ‘Custom Starter’.

Handing N the free raid pass and his pokédex back, Drayden asked, “How did you get a pokédex?”

“After my coronation, father took me to Nuvema Town, and requested one for me,” replied N. “I don’t know if my father paid for it, but the professor allowed me to skip the tutorial and let me choose him as my starter.” N petted his Zorua.

“I got to skip the tutorial too,” replied Iris, as she pulled out her pink pokédex. 

Drayden rubbed his chin. At first, he found it odd that N would have a pokédex. Especially since his father, Lord Ghetsis, was a vocal opponent of the Unovan Regional League. But then, he remembered that Ghetsis was also one of the original pokédex beta-testers in Unova. He was recruited by Professor Cedric Juniper, in the late 1980s, in an attempt to convince him to rethink his opposition to the league. (Obviously, it didn’t work.) It appeared that Ghetsis enjoyed cataloging pokémon, even though he did a lot of catch and release, which annoyed the professor since Ghetsis never brought him any specimens to study. 

Perhaps Ghetsis wanted his son to experience pokémon training for himself. That way, N would make an informed decision based on his firsthand experience regarding Team Plasma ideology. But then, this would mean that Ghetsis _wasn’t_ strategically manipulating his children into believing his nonsense. And the thought of this horrified Drayden, because that meant that Ghetsis’ nonsense is genetic and his poor children inherited his stupidity. (The future was doomed, if this was the case.)

Iris, unaware of what her grandfather, Drayden, was thinking said to N, “This is my first ever raid. Usually, they either happen when I’ve got Gym Leader duty or during school. It’s not fair that they’re never held in the summer”

“Blame Lord Ghetsis,” replied Drayden, who was unbothered by N’s offended glare. “A year or so after we started doing these, he argued in one of his speeches that obsessive trainers, who’ve become addicted to ‘catching them all’, would be at risk for heat stroke, from attempting to complete multiple raids in a single day. At the time, a couple of Ace Trainers and Veteran Trainers, decided to test Lord Ghetsis’ claim. Turns out he was correct, and these trainers got ill for being out in the heat too long.”

“I did 3 raids in my first year of training, but it was too much,” replied N. “But I did it during the fall. The commute was exhausting. I'll never do it again.”

“What did you catch?” asked Iris.

“Eevees,” replied N. He showed Iris a group photo of his three, now evolved Eevees. He had a female Glaceon, a female Leafeon, and a male Sylveon. 

"Gramps, does a Dragon Eeveelution exist?" Asked Iris. "That's the only one I need for my team."

"Not that I'm aware of," replied Drayden. "It's been years since I've looked up other pokémon. There's too many and I can't possibly remember them all."

She saw the time and said to N, “Let’s go to the lobby, the raid is going to start in half an hour. Everyone always comes 10 or 15 minutes before it begins and the lobby gets full.”

N recalled his Zorua and Froslass before leaving with Iris. Natural stayed behind with Drayden and his daughter. As soon as the kids were gone, Drayden’s Hydreigon and his Haxorus let themselves out of their pokéballs.

Iris' Hydreigon ran to her mother and cuddled with her, as the two male dragons and Drayden observed. It was exactly as the elders from The Village of Dragons had told Drayden; that the Deino line needed to be treated with the utmost care. A young Deino shouldn't be separated from its family until they willingly decided to leave on their own, or else they'd lash out at everything in an attempt to placate the void in their heart.

Drayden had an idea of what the dragons talked about. Just typical catching up that family members do who haven't seen each other in years. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * In this AU, the evolution stage has nothing to do with a pokémon’s actual age. Iris’ Hydreigon is still a young girl.
>   * Natural’s anecdote where he says he had forgotten what he wanted in life, is the reason he would’ve learned “Frustration” had Ghetsis lost. He’d realize too late that what he wanted was to chill with kind-hearted human friend, which is exactly the opposite of what happens after the defeat. Then, add the pain of losing his human friend and getting stuck with some prick who’s a husk of his former self.
>   * Ghetsis had a very sheltered upbringing and limited socialization with other people. Later, when he did interact with others, many of them were mean to him. The only ones who he felt always treated him with respect are pokémon. This is why he whines about pokémon liberation.
>   * I nicknamed N’s Zorua “Marrón” because it means “reddish brown” in Spanish.
> 



	5. Raiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N and Iris participate in a raid at Opelucid Gym.

Iris and N headed to the lobby, where other trainers were arriving for the raid. N sat at a bench close to the door, as Iris sat next to him. She surprised N since he had a tendency of making the other trainers completely ignore him. He wasn’t bothered by Iris, despite seeing her challenge Team Plasma at his Castle. In fact, he had a good impression of her, but pitied her because she was clearly being manipulated by the Unovan Pokémon League – as if she were being groomed into being the next champion. 

N suspected that Iris wanted to ask about her pokémon and that’s why she sat next to him. He wondered whether or not he should tell Iris about the missing cyclist. That way, she would relay the information to Drayden who’d know how to better relay this information to the authorities. However, N was quickly reminded of how corrupt and inept the police were. There were many instances where the police told young teen trainers to track down dangerous criminals for arrest. He maintained his silence and decided to tell a Team Plasma admin instead, later.

Trying to act like an average trainer, N picked out his team of six pokémon while he waited for the raid to begin, from his backpack. One of the pokémon he chose was his Zorua, who he summoned. He continued to search in his backpack, pulling out an Eevee costume and put it on Zorua. 

“Why are you dressing him up?” asked Iris.

“He doesn’t want to evolve,” replied N. “These special costumes prevent evolution. Sometimes they’re distracting-enough that the rest of the party won’t get much EXP share, which sucks because they love to learn from observing their friends battle. That’s why I chose this mild costume for Marrón, so everyone else could still get EXP. I’m aware of their controversy but there are pokémon who’re genuinely afraid of evolving.”

“You can’t be serious,” said Iris.

“I am,” replied N. “While most pokémon look forward to evolution, because that means they’ll get stronger, others do not. They’re afraid and their reasons vary wildly. The most common reasons are the possibility of intense pain while their bodies reformat, and thinking they won’t be cute anymore, losing their trainer’s love in the process. That last one is something to keep in mind, since friendship doesn’t necessarily include mutual love.”

“Is there a reason your Zorua doesn’t want to evolve?” asked Iris.

“Yes, and he’s told me, but that’s nobody's business,” replied N, who whispered to her, “I know he won’t mind me telling you, but there’s too many people in the lobby and I must respect his privacy from random eavesdroppers.”

Meanwhile, some trainers who had picked out their teams noticed N and Iris sitting near the front. It was hard _not_ to notice them – they both radiated Main Protagonist auras. One of the trainers narrowed his eyes and asked his friends, “That girl over there, talking to that tall green-haired guy, she looks just like the Gym Leader.”

Iris wore a pink jacket with a yellow Axew patch embroidered on it, a white turtleneck sweater, her Opelucid Academy baseball cap, white jeans, and her favorite TimburrLand boots. 

Another trainer said, “That can’t be her. Gym Leader Iris wears the most beautiful traditional Unovan dresses. She’s clearly not the type who wears Timbs, even if those are a Unovan brand.”

N who had sharp hearing overheard their conversation. He hadn’t even noticed anything different about Iris’ clothing. But then, N was used to his father allowing him and his sisters to dress however they wanted, (as long as their outfit was modest, nice, and presentable). His sister, Concordia, sometimes wore Timbs to class.

There was an announcement in the lobby, calling the first five trainers, who had registered – Iris, Eileene (a local Ace Trainer), Natural, Thalia (a local Pokémon Ranger), and Manuel (a local Rich Boy). Hearing his name among the first five surprised N, but it seemed Drayden had managed to register him the moment the raid registration kiosk was opened. The five trainers were escorted to the arena where the raid was being held. On the other side of the battlefield, there was a gigantic Kabuto roaring. Its cries were indistinct, since it was so powerful it couldn’t speak coherently. 

The trainers summoned their first pokémon and began their attack when the air-horn went off signalling the raid’s start. They had three minutes to defeat the giant Kabuto. N had chosen his Lanturn. Iris chose her Lapras. Eileene chose her Simisage. Thalia chose her Cacturne. Manuel chose his Liepard. Most of their pokémon were super effective Kabuto that they finished it off before the first minute was over. Iris couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed; she thought raids were challenging. (They were, but the Kabuto raid was a One-Star raid, meaning it was the easiest raid to do; a single trainer could succeed in it.)

Kabuto let out a final roar, before its weakened body could no longer handle the power and began to shrink. The gym staff present handed the trainers Premier Balls because after a raid pokémon was defeated, they had a chance to catch it. As Kabuto shrank, its body split itself into five orbs of light, which materialized into five regular Kabuto.

N disliked this bonus part of the raid. The defeated raid pokémon were often delirious and appeared intoxicated, making them tricky to catch. (After all, such power _is_ addicting.) Eileene caught her Kabuto on the first try, but that was expected from an Ace Trainer. She returned the unused pokéballs to the gym staff. Thalia and Manuel both caught their pokémon on the second try. Thalia returned her unused pokéballs and quickly left the gym since she needed to head back to work. N took three tries and finally caught his Kabuto. However, he and Manuel were slow to return the unused balls to the gym staff, since they wanted to watch Iris.

Iris, however, immediately began to regret thinking the raid was easy. In fact, she was also beginning to regret “skipping” the tutorial because she had no idea how to catch a pokémon. She had only caught a pokémon once, it was her Excadrill, but that wasn’t enough of a practice and it happened a couple of years ago. According to raid rules, they were only allowed to throw a Premier Ball once and if they missed, they had to throw another ball, since they weren’t allowed to retrieve it. Without thinking twice, N and Manuel handed Iris their spare balls. Feeling bad about turning in her pokéballs so quickly, Eileene hurried over to Iris. Not realizing that Iris was the gym leader because Eileene mistook her for a School Girl, Eileene began to give Iris a quick lesson over catching. 

The gym staff looked on. It was not uncommon for other generous trainers, such as Rich Boys like Manuel and N, to give their spare pokéballs to another trainer struggling to catch their pokémon during the raid’s bonus round. The staff members couldn’t help but feel bad for Iris. She was an excellent trainer, even though most of the pokémon she had, had been gifted to her. However, they understood she didn’t have much practice in catching her own pokémon because she was still too young to go out on her own to train, like everyone else.

Fortunately, Iris was able to catch her Kabuto after listening to Eileene’s tips. Happy, Iris returned the pokéballs and thanked everyone who helped her. However, Iris pulled out her wallet and handed them each a $50 bill. (Iris was used to paying out $152 USD, since that was what she gave trainers who defeated her in battle.) Manuel and Eileene were pleasantly surprised, and gladly accepted her gift. N felt guilty about taking her money, he wasn’t expecting her to repay him in any way, but he accepted the payment nonetheless. They hurried out of the arena, so the gym staff could prepare it for the next Kabuto raid.

Iris took N by the hand and they slipped out of the lobby, making their way back to the VIP room. Seeing that both kids were happy, only meant that they both successfully caught their respective Kabuto. Iris was eager to show Drayden her Kabuto that she summoned him.

The Kabuto was still dizzy and his speech was slurred. N summoned his Kabuto, who looked exactly like the one Iris had. N’s Kabuto was also dizzy and somehow managed to flip over on his back, but N quickly helped him up and gave him some Fresh Water to drink.

Natural the Hydreigon asked, “Raids are parties now?”

The mother Hydreigon interrupted, “No, they’re just dizzy because the raid pokémon get powered up too much, which makes them huge. And when they lose, they shrink back down to normal size but they also get cloned. I heard that in another region, once these big pokémon get defeated, they explode.” She noticed her daughter tremble from fear and quickly went to comfort her, adding, “They don’t die. Think of the explosion that happens like it was fireworks. In the end, they turn back to normal without the cloning.”

“Oh…,” said Natural, who turned to N, “You better not tell my trainer about the exploding pokémon. It’s going to make him mad.”

“Why on Earth would he get mad?” asked Haxorus. “Spectacular explosions is like the Fourth of July. Unovan people love a good fireworks show.”

“He doesn’t like seeing pokémon get hurt,” replied Natural, rolling the eyes on his lesser heads. “That’s what would taint this fireworks show for him. He doesn’t trust other humans when they insist the pokémon are ‘fine’.”

“I understand completely,” replied Haxorus. “My trainer doesn’t trust other humans either. But then, my trainer is this city’s mayor and the majority of politicians are liars. I know this because I can smell their deceitful stench from a mile away. They only care about power, not about helping their community. Arceus knows what this ‘King Natural’ will do in Unova.”

Natural the Hydreigon smiled uneasily and said, “The boy who has come with me is King Natural. He’s my trainer’s son.”

Haxorus’ eyes widened as he looked at N. “Well then, that changes everything. He seems like a good kid who wants to help everybody. I hope he doesn’t get jaded by politics. It would be a shame to lose someone like him.” 

“I’ve seen the individuals my father deals with,” replied N, as he picked up his Kabuto and cradled him in his arms. “They are people who obsess over politics but disregard principle because all they care about, in the end, is profit. It’s no wonder that Reshiram has awakened. This land is consumed by greed and starved of verity. I’m glad I was able to convince Reshiram to help us, because he really wanted to set all of Unova ablaze.”

Just then, a gym staff member entered the VIP room with some sandwiches and several bags of dry pokémon food, on a cart. She noticed N talking to the dragons and whispered to Drayden. “Wow, he’s having a conversation with your pokemon! I wonder what cute things he’s telling them.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re having a serious conversation,” replied Drayden as he took the cart. “Thank you.” He rolled the cart to the table and began to divide the dry pokémon food into reasonable portion sizes, relieved that the three Hydreigons were so distracted by N’s conversation that they didn’t all gang up on him, begging for food.

Iris walked over and helped Drayden divide the food. Afterwards, she whistled to her Hydreigon who ran over to the table to eat her kibble. She was followed by her mother and Haxorus.

N, on the other hand, looked through his backpack and pulled out a vacuum flask and poured its contents into three bowls. It was a homemade curry that his father had cooked the night before, in preparation for his Hydreigon’s trip. Despite having the typical voracious appetite the species was known for, Natural was a very picky eater. N took the kibble and put it away in his backpack. Other pokémon back at the castle would happily eat it instead.

“That curry smells better than our sandwiches,” said Iris.

“My father made it, that’s why,” replied N. “He said that was his favorite part of his pokémon journey from Nuvema Town to Victory Road, which to him, was just going back to the castle. He said his cooking attracted wild pokémon who often offered him wild berries which he used in his curries. Of course, he gave a generous ration to the pokémon who gave him the berries. I believe it because I’ve gone down a similar path and wild pokémon are always wanting to eat cooked food. It’s a delicacy to them.”

N got a spoonful of curry and fed it to his Kabuto. The curry immediately seemed to relax him. 

“When am I going to go to Nuvema Town?” asked Iris. “I kinda want to do what everyone else is doing too.”

“When you’re at least 15,” replied Drayden. “Kids shouldn’t be going out by themselves at your age anyway. Too dangerous. I will never forget that Conkeldurr that jumped out of the tall grass when I was going to Driftveil Gym. It was 15 levels stronger than everyone in my party.” Drayden turned to N and said to him, “I know you and your father always talk about trainers bothering pokémon and getting attacked in self-defense, but this old bitter pokémon wanted to bludgeon me with its pillars. Even though I was a young boy, about Iris’ age, I could see the blood-lust in its eyes. I’m so glad little kids nowadays don’t get to experience terror like this anymore.”

N narrowed his eyes.

“You and your father are fortunate,” said Drayden. “As you’ve said many times yourself, people and pokémon are equals. Unfortunately, that includes being unkind and unforgiving. Perhaps someone had hurt that Conkeldurr who attacked me, but taking out its anger on an innocent child is unjust.”

They continued to eat and chat with their pokémon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * Iris being “manipulated” into being the next champion was originally intended to be a deeper plot. Which I had to cut it so I could fit this whole story as a “one-day” thing. I will try to bring it up and focus on it eventually.
>   * More proof that N is right about her “manipulation” is[ this fake screenshot post that says Iris and Leon are cousins](https://pokemas-says.tumblr.com/post/189230712957/oh-my-god). Two champions from two separate regions, seems suspicious...
>   * N’s Zorua doesn’t want to evolve because he’s afraid it will hurt. 
>   * Iris’ $152.00 is roughly the amount she pays out, but translated from Yen to USD, because I once read somewhere that Pokémon currency was based off of the Yen. USD because they’re in Unova, even though I used (2019 - 2020) Yen to USD instead of from 2010-2011.
>   * Ghetsis would think Dynamaxing is bad, if he saw it. Drayden’s Haxorus likes it and probably has Dynamaxed in the past, since Drayden used to travel a lot in his youth. Obviously, since Iris and Leon are now cousins in this AU, they probably visited the Dynamax gyms in Galar at some point.
>   * N and Ghetsis are like Disney Princes, attracting wild pokémon who like them and have no intention of roughing them up. Their experiences are far from universal...or dare I say, "normal".
> 



	6. Vengeance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Colress arrives to take N back home. Meanwhile, Drayden remembers an encounter with another inhuman freak that he seems to have not gotten over.

N was unable to enjoy his lunch because it felt as if Drayden was attempting to give him unsolicited advice in regards to ruling Unova. N was used to getting such advice from his own father and the sages. But Drayden was opposed to Team Plasma and could be trying to sabotage him. N remembered the warning Darmanitan had given him; that some humans acted very kind but had ill-intentions.

“…Personally, I tend to support Democracy,” continued Drayden. “I believe that taxes should be invested on the people and their pokémon. This puts me at odds with Clay, who staunchly supports the Republic. He says his ideals are good for business and business is good for Unova.” Drayden stopped because he had no idea how to explain Clay’s political viewpoint without derision. 

“I support Democracy too,” replied N. “As Sage Giallo once said, ‘Superior men understand what is right. Inferior men understand what will sell.’ What is good for business, may not be good for Unovans. From what has happened to my family, he had a point.”

Iris wanted to ask N about what happened to his family, but Drayden shot a quick glance at her, telling her he’d explain after N left.

“Surely, there’s something that the Seven Sages have told you that you disagree with,” said Drayden, paused and took a sip of his tea.

“Well, no…actually, there is,” replied N, who was trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say. “You see, my father is obsessed with the past. I don’t mean it in the sense that he’s into history, that’s Sage Ryoku’s speciality. He’s always talking about how glorious and wonderful the olden days were. It’s almost like he has an aversion to the future, which I don’t understand why. A lot of horrible things happened to him back then, or so I’ve heard. This aversion has clearly gotten in the way of his plans because he never seems to have any long-term goals. I’ve confronted him about this several times and he either gets annoyed or very upset with me.”

“Hmm…sounds like he needs to go see a therapist to help him figure out how to make peace with whatever is troubling him," said Drayden. “I find myself in a similar situation when I’m talking to my colleagues. They often complain about how it was better, ‘back in the day’ and I completely disagree. Our standard of living has greatly improved over the years and it keeps getting better. People nowadays are much more tolerant and accepting of one another, compared to when I was a boy.”

“Of course,” replied N as he wiped his hands with a napkin.

“This is what I have in mind when I perform my mayoral duties,” said Drayden. “That the laws I pass and execute are for the betterment of society. I wish some of the other mayors shared my same sentiments.”

N took a sip from his drink. He pulled out his phone and sent a group text to the sages, requesting that Colress come pick him up. Iris looked over and read N's screen, but couldn't understand what he wrote, since he used the Common Tongue, instead of Unovan.

He said, "I'm just reminding the Sages to come pick me up. I know they're busy with orientation."

Meanwhile, Colress, who was in the middle of downloading a very large email attachment, had no choice but to obey. He wanted to reply with a text, but his phone lagged and he accidentally called N. The phone was so slow, Colress didn't have time to hang up because N answered.

"Good afternoon," replied N, warmly.

Sensing that N wasn't bothered Colress said, "Sorry about that. I meant to text, not call. I'll come pick you up."

"Alright, thank you so much, bye," N hung up on Colress. N got up and cleaned up after himself. 

As he did, his father's Hydreigon bid farewell to the mother, her mate whom he made peace with, and his daughter. N called his father's Hydreigon back in the ball since he remembered Colress' van being a bit too cramped. 

N bid them farewell and headed out of the gym, where he waited outside. His father's Hydreigon got out of his ball and decided to bask outside, since it was still very windy. Drayden kept an eye on N, while he waited for his ride. 

Colress arrived about 15 minutes later. Drayden managed to catch a glimpse of him, when he was inside his white Volcswagen van. Rather than feel disgust, he felt despair for Colress – to see such a smart young man turn himself into an inhuman freak incapable of feeling emotion was almost unbearable. Colress was further gone than Elesa. The only other person who was as mutated as Colress was Zinzolin, Team Plasma’s Kalosian sage.

* * *

He had met Zinzolin briefly during the 1980s, back when he had divorced and separated from his wife. (Drayden had married her after completing his pokémon journey to Victory Road with her. But they began to have several problems after they settled down, which ultimately ended in divorce.) 

Zinzolin was much different than the Kalosian men his mother had described – he was a short, brown-haired man, who appeared to be calm and sweet. Most Kalosian men were very tall and had very strong personalities. They were passionate men who often had short relationships because “the passion” died out. (Thinking back, Drayden wondered if his passionate Kalosian blood had anything to do with his divorce. His relationship had gone stale.) For the most part, Zinzolin seemed to be a good and moral man, who quickly gained Drayden’s trust. 

However, things began to change when Zinzolin seemed to have disappeared for two whole days. Drayden was upset that Zinzolin didn’t tell him where he was during that time. On the third day, Zinzolin had returned to class but he looked strange. His eyes were now mostly closed, his lips, nose, and ears were slightly bluish. (Drayden figured that Zinzolin had gotten into some new Kalosian fad, since their men didn’t hesitate to wear makeup.) But he should’ve suspected that something was wrong because since that day, all Zinzolin did was complain about the heat. And he also didn’t want to go out on dates anymore. Wanting to preserve the relationship because Zinzolin was good company, Drayden made the mistake to preserve the relationship. He had hoped that Zinzolin would get better, but he did not.

One day, Zinzolin approached him, asking for a date. It was then that both he and Zinzolin knew their passion was extinguished. Zinzolin had become an inhuman freak just like he was. 

Perhaps this feeling of disgust was what his wife felt. In his desperation to keep himself entertained, Drayden began to train his dragons by battling them himself, as the Ancient Unovans had done. However, he pushed his luck and learned a 13th move which in order to master, he needed to sacrifice a body part. Drayden chose his tongue, thinking it was discreet. His human tongue turned draconic and his last ounce of passion disappeared. His wife was horrified by his deformity that she demanded a divorce from shock. Yet Zinzolin, had a morbid fascination regarding his deformity and it never affected their relationship.

However, Zinzolin’s condition was worse. He had become an Ice-type, which unsettled Drayden because he was a Dragon-type. Sensing the tension, Zinzolin opened his eyes. They had become a very pale icy blue, which made him appear blind. They attempted to go on yet another date, which ended in disaster because Zinzolin wanted to use his newfound ice powers in an attempt to spice things up. It was then that Drayden talked himself out of denial and realized that Zinzolin was a lewd man just like all the other Kalosian men he was warned about. He was nothing more than a short, brown-haired demon. Drayden immediately broke up with Zinzolin, who appeared unseemingly calm.

To this day, he remembered Zinzolin’s last words to him, “I should’ve known better than to date my own countryman. I assumed you were _different_ because you’re half-Unovan. I’ve heard that Unovans are tolerant and loyal. That they’d do whatever it takes to preserve their relationships because love and family are the most important to them. It would appear your Kalosian blood is stronger. You’ve already had your fun with me and decided to cast me aside.”

“You want to stick that icicle up my…!” said Drayden, trying to keep his Outrage under control.

“But this icicle is smooth,” replied Zinzolin, who held up the icicle he had created when he got a glass of water and used Ice Punch on the bottom to make the water jump out of the glass and freeze instantly.

“Get the hell out of my house!” cried Drayden.

Zinzolin got his clothes and left without saying goodbye. At that moment, Zinzolin’s words had hurt Drayden like freezer burn. It was then, that Drayden made up his mind and called his ex-wife, in an attempt to reconcile their differences. It hurt both his Unovan and Kalosian pride to admit that he was in the wrong. Just as Zinzolin said, Drayden was thinking about his family, since he had two young children, which she had taken in the divorce. He missed them dearly and felt guilty for valuing his pleasure above them.

The next day, Drayden went to his gym, which he managed with the Gym Leader. He found something strange on the bricks by the door. It was his house keys which he had given to Zinzolin. They were frozen to the bricks and hadn’t thawed out yet. Drayden shook his head at himself. All this drama for a relationship that lasted four months, at the most. Drayden made up his mind to never date another Kalosian man again because they were simply too much trouble.

* * *

Still Drayden had found it strange that Zinzolin would leave his keys at the gym. Because it wasn’t just the house key, it also had the keys to the gym because Drayden often took Zinzolin to quick dates there. Suddenly, Drayden darted back to the gym. Some of the staff and the trainers waiting in the lobby were surprised at how fast Drayden was. (After all, Drayden took care of himself and was a mostly healthy man.)

Arriving at the secure storage, Drayden located the DNA Splicers, which were sealed away in a box there. The Village Elder, who was the former Dragon-type Gym Leader at the Opelucid Gym, had once told him that the DNA Splicers were ancient artifacts that were only meant to be used by the Heroes of Truth and Ideals. The heroes would use the DNA Splicers to absofuse their legendary dragon with a third mysterious dragon called Kyurem, completing it and making it more powerful in the process. 

However, upon further examination, Drayden fell to his knees. These DNA Splicers were just Revives partially spray-painted dark gray. Immediately, Zinzolin came to mind. He must have stolen them after their breakup. There was no other reason why Zinzolin would choose to leave the keys at the gym, and not inside his house, on his way out. Unfortunately, with the gym’s recent renovations, the old security footage from the 1980s was temporarily misplaced and there was no immediate way of proving or disproving that Zinzolin was the culprit. Angry, Drayden wanted to curse Zinzolin’s name but he knew he'd be too loud and people at the gym would be asking him why he mentioned the Kalosian Sage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * N’s great-grandfather gave up ruling Unova because he was led to believe that there was an imminent revolution because the people wanted to rule themselves. The truth was that this was a well-orchestrated faux-coup pushed by a couple of tycoons who were mad that the king was obstructing their capitalist agenda. Obviously, this king was just ruler and giving up the throne like he did was regarded as a very unpopular decision.
>   * Elesa is a mutant. Her ears are her deformity. That’s why she wears those headphones. Still both ears count as one deformity. Ghetsis has two deformities and that’s why he’s the most...gone of all these mutants.
>   * Drayden’s wife was too scared to try to reconcile with him after she got over her shock. This is why she was so quick to accept his apology because she still loved him. They got remarried and are still married.
>   * Zinzolin stole the DNA Splicers back in the 1980s. Not because they were connected to Kyurem, they were the most valuable item in the gym and he hoped that Drayden would get blamed and punished for their disappearance, but this failed because nobody noticed. Just like nobody noticed him disappearing for those 2 days..
> 



	7. Outlier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N and Colress return to the forest in search of clues and they end up being the ones leaving more questions behind than answers.

Colress drove N back to the castle in his van, going past Route 11, and Village Bridge. He wondered if N knew the story of Zinzolin and Drayden, but then realized that was unlikely because Ghetsis was a very traditional Unovan parent. (He would never allow his children to hear of such vulgar escapades.)

“Had I known there was a raid, I’d have come and stayed with you,” said Colress. “That’s how I got my Rotom. I first heard about these raids like 10 or 12 years ago. I was eagerly waiting for them to come to Unova. As expected, by the time they arrived, I had my driver’s license. Unfortunately, due to the unpredictable but time-consuming nature of my work, I still couldn’t go to them.” Colress chuckled.

“I didn’t know about this Kabuto raid,” said N. “Mayor Drayden mentioned it and I decided to take advantage of it. Raid activity gets documented on your Journal and if I do 2 more raids, I’ll be eligible for a 20% discount on all types of Revives.”

“Sucks that there’s a limit to how many Revives you can purchase per day,” said Colress. “Blame the resellers and scalpers. At least, Revives have a much better shelf-life than potions because they’re solids.”

"Resellers?" asked N, in disbelief.

"You bet," replied Colress. "Pokémon training is a huge industry here and abroad. Resellers buy Revives, Potions, pokéballs, etc. in bulk to resell to trainers. Often, this is very convenient because these resellers tend to sell out of their cars or scooters, away from the towns. The problem is that, there's a chance that the Potions and Revives might be past expiration. I've only had that problem once, but the guy was shady and I was desperate, in the middle of nowhere."

"See? _This_ is why I insist you get promoted," said N. "You are a man of the world, aware of what's going on among the people more than any of us. I need a person like you to be by my side to help me rule."

Colress smiled, since he was still a shy, awkward nerd that nobody else seemed to like, except for N and the Sages. He was also not used to receiving compliments. But then, working with Team Plasma was the first time Colress had ever felt welcomed anywhere.

Noticing that Colress was flustered by his words, despite looking mostly stoic, N decided to change the topic. “The real reason I called you was because I want to investigate the whereabouts of that missing cyclist.” N showed Colress an online article about it and his photos of the site, when they reached a red light.

“I…well then, let’s go off-road to explore,” said Colress, who just couldn’t say no to N. Something about making N’s big gray doleful eyes cry, disturbed him and he couldn’t bear to do such a thing. Colress drove into the forest, just before going into Lacunosa Town, as a nearby cop on a motorcycle observed. Rather than go after them, the cop decided to let the Drapion take care of them.

The ride on the van was bumpy, since it was a two-wheel drive. They finally reached the location and the first thing N did was pick up the damaged bicycle with his bare hands much to Colress’ dismay.

Just then, the Drapion appeared ready to attack them. Before N could try to reason with the pokémon, Colress said, “This isn’t a tournament.”

Colress took off his gloves and tossed them aside. He quickly grabbed his blue cowlick stuck it's long tip in his mouth along with his right fingers. N noticed a thick silvery fluid drip down the side of Colress' mouth. Colress withdrew his now silver-coated fingers and hair. Extending his right nails, Colress charged at Drapion, attacking it with his Metal Claws.

The Drapion was caught off-guard by Colress' attack. Shaking its head, Drapion said, "So you're this 'Unova Man' I've heard so much about. I wondered how many of your kind I had to attack to finally summon you here, since attacking other pokémon had gone unnoticed…"

Just then, Colress' pokémon all jumped out of their pokéballs to observe the match in the sidelines. Drapion noticed them and smirked. Something about fighting in front of an audience got its adrenaline rushing. Drapion attacked Colress. 

N's pokémon and his father's Hydreigon also got out of their balls. As Colress had stated, this battle didn't wasn't for a tournament and it broke all sorts of Pokémon League etiquette. But the pokémon watching didn't care. As far as they were concerned, it meant that they could spectate the battle and get more EXP out of it since they had a good view of everything that happened.

Colress tried to dodge, but Drapion was too quick. Fortunately, Colress managed to block Drapion with his right forearm, which Drapion bit with his Poison Fang, Badly Poisoning Colress. However, this activated Colress' ability – Synchronize; which caused Drapion to get poisoned instead.

Drapion was quick to release Colress. Since the metallic coating had seemed to drip down to his forearm, Drapion tasted its bitter alloy taste. (Plus, the arm was very hard and biting Colress hurt his mandibles.) In the moment of distraction, Colress swung his head and struck Drapion with his Iron Tail – his silver-coated blue cowlick which had hardened into a cobalt-blue blade.

Unfortunately, for Drapion, Colress was not the mysterious crytpid known as "Unova Man"; a cursed immortal who roams the countryside, defending humans and pokémon alike, as part of his penance. Unova Man was said to be a very tall, slim man who was as pale as a corpse, with long mossy green hair and had a piercing inhuman gaze. Some say that Unova Man was once a human who rejected his humanity to become a pokémon. Others claim that Unova Man is a pokémon himself, likely illusions created Zoroarks throughout the years to frighten away intruders. Whatever the case might be, Colress was clearly not Unova Man, but Drapion was so eager to battle a human that it didn’t care anymore.

Like the rest of their pokémon, N observed from the sidelines too. He had never encountered such a cruel pokémon – one who'd boast about attacking innocents. But N's concentration was interrupted when he sensed that someone else was watching them nearby. He turned around and saw a teenage boy, hiding in the bushes. The boy panicked when he made eye contact with N.

N approached the boy, who he immediately recognized as the missing cyclist because he had seen his photo in the news reports. The boy was shaken by the attack, too scared to leave the area since he was unable to flee. Witnessing Colress’ ferocity in battle didn’t help, it horrified him so much that he was unable to speak. N helped the boy to his feet and took him into Colress’ van. N’s Froslass noticed what N was doing and decided to follow him inside. N laid the boy down on the mat and went to reach for Colress’ first aid kit. Putting on some latex-free gloves, N began to disinfect the boy’s wounds as Froslass hurried to find some bandages.

“We should ask him where he’s from,” said Froslass.

Nonchalantly, N turned to the boy and asked, in the exact Snorunt dialect he was speaking to Froslass with, “Where do you live, so we could drop you off?”

“What the…!?” gasped the boy, creeped out that N sounded like an actual pokémon than a human. N’s distantly inhuman gaze didn’t help. 

It took N a second to figure out what had happened before correcting himself, “Where do you live? We want to take you back home.”

“Oh…I’m from Icirrus City,” replied the boy. “I had just finished battling at the Tournament League Building and decided to take a shortcut to Lacunosa Town instead of going down Route 22 because I really wanted to get back home soon. Everything was okay until it lunged at me. I screamed but nobody came to help me…then I saw you taking photos of my bike. I wanted to shout but I couldn’t even speak. Then you left and I thought you weren’t going to come back.”

N took out a regular Potion and sprayed the boy with it. He was surprised it worked. He had a Max Potion on hand, but feared it was too strong for a normal human being.

“I had an errand to run,” said N. “I was still planning to return to the site to conduct my own investigation. After all, the regional police force is useless. I take it you’re the son of a single mother who can’t afford to take off from work to look for you herself, right?”

“Yes,” replied the boy. “I can’t even call her to tell where I am. My phone and my pokédex were damaged in the struggle.”

Froslass approached N with a plastic container and said to him, “Colress has a ‘water-free’ shower kit but I don’t know how to use it. I guess we have to wait for him to finish, or do you want me to help him out?”

N stood up and looked out the window, “We’ll wait. He looks like he’s having fun.”

Froslass floated to see the battle and all she saw was Colress’ crazed expression as he opened his mouth to shoot his Flash Cannon at Drapion. Froslass shook her head. Colress’ battle seemed wrong to her because N or his sisters never looked so bloodthirsty and spiteful while battling.

“Please excuse me,” said N, as he took off his gloves, throwing them in the trash bin, as left the van, and pulled out one of his homemade pokéballs. He had no choice but to capture Drapion, so he wouldn’t attack other innocents traveling through the forest. N walked into the battlefield and attempted to catch Drapion.

Unamused by N, Drapion swatted away N’s pokéball with his claws. However, N’s Zorua, Marrón, leaped into the air and kicked the pokéball, throwing it back to Drapion, catching him. Shocked by Marrón’s quick Catch Assist, Drapion wasn’t able to struggle anymore and was successfully caught.

Meanwhile, Colress looked at what had occurred, and then looked back at his sliced up arms and tattered lab coat. His chest hurt from his rapid pulse, and he felt numb. Colress’ Beheeyem approached him. Using his telepathy, he tried to give his words of encouragement, but that really didn’t help. Colress was beginning to feel remorse for what he had done. He felt terrible for releasing all his pent up anger at Drapion, even though the pokémon itself was an asshole who probably deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * In this AU, it is N who keeps promoting Colress, not Ghetsis. But this is clearly bias, because N is excited that there is another young man who is nerdy like him and he sees Colress as a friend.
>   * “This isn’t a tournament.” Is just something people say to cover their butts when they’re about to battle illegally. Everything Colress proceeds to do afterwards is forbidden. 
>   * The reason Colress has cursed liquid teeth is because I wanted to make him like the Terminator. As in give him a whole robotic skeleton as part of his curse, but got worried about him dying of leukemia, so I settled for just liquid teeth because that’s partially like T-1000 from Terminator 2.
>   * “Unova Man” is made up for this AU. Supposedly, other mysterious beings like him exist in other regions, such as Galar’s “Ball Guy”. Unovans think these are Unova Man’s regional forms. 
> 



	8. Solace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N and Colress help the missing cyclist reunite with his worried mom.

N walked back to the van with Colress and their pokémon. Colress noticed that N had found the missing cyclist. The cyclist was terrified by Colress, who clearly seemed like he was more monster than man with how fiercely he had battled.

Picking up the shower kit, N asked Colress, “How do you use this thing? That kid needs to get cleaned up first.”

Shaken, Colress began to explain the procedure as the boy listened. N set up some curtains and handed the boy a hazmat suit, before turning his attention to Colress who was also badly injured in the battle. Fortunately, since Colress was similarly mutated like his father, N decided to use a Max Potion on him, completely healing Colress of his injuries. However, the Max Potion didn’t fix Colress’ tattered and stained lab coat.

Thinking fast, N said, “We should go to Shopping Mall Nine to get you and that kid some fresh clean clothes.”

“Umm…,” Colress had no idea what to say. N’s causal generosity surprised him. Before he was able to properly reply, his phone rang and he answered it on speakerphone without checking who it was, “Hello.”

“It is I, Lord Ghetsis,” said Ghetsis. “Where are you?”

“Excuse me,” said N softly as he took Colress’ phone to answer, “Father, we’re in the middle of the woods because there was a missing cyclist and I decided to look for him. We’ve found him.”

“Well then, my king, since you’re still in the vicinity, please pick up Lady Concordia from school,” replied Ghetsis. “She should be getting out of class within half an hour. Thank you and stay safe.” Ghetsis hung up and N returned the phone to Colress.

N sighed and said, “I wish he still called me ‘my son’ instead of ‘my king’.”

“But you’re the king,” replied Colress.

“Yes, but that sounds too formal and impersonal when we’re discussing simple family matters,” said N. He stopped when he saw the boy wearing the hazmat suit, step out of the curtains, taking a seat in a nearby chair.

After the boy got buckled up, N decided to drive the van back to Opelucid City to pick up his sister. Colress was still shaken from the battle and in no condition to drive. Sitting in the front passenger seat, Colress reclined the chair all the way back until he was lying down flat. Colress’ Rotom got out of his pokéball. Since he possessed a small 24 oz blender, Rotom took some berries he had stored and made some fresh juice for his trainer. Colress sat up and paused before taking a drink, the road was bumpy. When N, arrived at a stop, Colress took a sip without his lips touching the cup and handed his Rotom over to the boy, who also took a similar sip.

Rotom noticed the boy wearing the hazmat suit and asked Colress, “Why is he wearing your suit?”

“His clothes were filthy,” replied N, as he overheard Rotom. “We’re going to go pick up my sister, then head to Shopping Mall Nine, to get him some new clothes.”

“Wait, for real?” asked the boy, still surprised by N’s generosity.

“Yes,” said N. “We get you some new clothes and then drop you off at Icirrus City, where you told me you’re from.” N turned to Colress and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your van's battery gets recharged for this." N turned back to the boy, adding, "Ugh…I forgot. But if you want, I’ll let you borrow my phone so you could call your mom and let her know you’re alright.”

“I…I don’t remember her phone number,” replied the boy. The boy also couldn’t remember his address. In his panic, he began to wonder if he even was from Icirrus City. The stress and sleeplessness he endured these past couple of days, seemed to be affecting his memories. 

Colress’ Rotom saw the boy’s damaged phone and touched it with its spectral hands, taking possession of it, releasing Colress’ broken blender. The Rotom was quick to search through the phone’s contacts and automatically called the boy’s mother.

The mother was driving home from work when she heard her phone ring. Seeing it was from her son, she answered it.

“Mom?” said the boy.

“Are you alright?” cried his mom, who decided to pull over in a nearby shopping center.

“Yes,” said the boy. “Some random guys just found me and gave me first aid. One of them said he’s taking me to Shopping Mall Nine to get me new clothes.”

“Please tell them to wait for me, I will be heading to the mall,” she replied. “See you soon. Bye.”

“Bye…,” replied the boy.

Colress handed the boy the broken blender that still had the juice in it, for him to finish drinking. 

“Your mom will be meeting us at the mall? How splendid!” said Colress. “She might be waiting a while, since we have to go back and get N’s sister from school.”

“She’s not going to wait very long,” said N, as he suddenly sped up.

N was a fast driver, and Colress found his boldness surprising. His first impressions of N was that he was a meek soft-spoken boy, but the more he got to know him, the more he realized that N was just as arrogant and ambitious as his father. N drove as if he owned the streets, which he did because he was the King of Unova, since Team Plasma had won the elections.

Within a few minutes, he arrived at Opelucid University. Concordia was waiting for them outside and recognized Colress’ Volcswagen van. She quickly hopped in the van and noticed the boy. The boy was surprised to see Concordia. She wore a white sun hat with a black ribbon, like a proper Lady. Her presence confused the boy because Concordia was clearly from a very affluent background, as was N, since Colress had mentioned they were siblings. It dawned on the boy that perhaps this was why N had nonchalantly offered to pay for new clothes. He had the money to do so.

“Okay, so we rescued this kid from the woods, after my visit to Opelucid Gym, and now we’re going to head to Shopping Mall Nine, to get him and Colress new clothes,” said N. “I hope you don’t mind being a little late back home.”

Concordia smiled and said to N, “Not at all. Plasmas is almost here and I want to buy some nice gifts for Anthea, father, the Sages, and…well, everybody. So I don’t mind this detour, I’ve had my plans to visit.”

“But we’re on a tight schedule,” replied N. “We have to return home and help assess the foongi with father before sundown. Maybe we can go back to the mall this Saturday.”

“Alright,” said Concordia. She didn’t want to go on Saturday because the weekends were always packed. 

Her shopping plans were usually thwarted, since she wasn’t allowed to drive to class. In her first year of college, Concordia made the mistake of telling their father that she nearly had a panic attack because the traffic was very slow and she was nearly late for an exam. Because of this, their father ordered everyone who could drive and was available, to take his children to and from school. According to Ghetsis, he hoped this would reduce their stress so their minds would be clear-enough to focus on their studies and get good grades, since the burden of driving was taken care of.

“Colress,” said Concordia, “What happened to your clothes? It looks like someone chucked you into a wood chipper.”

“I was battling the Drapion that attacked the kid,” replied Colress. “I narrowly won and N went in and caught it. My chest still hurts.”

“Sounds like your body is trying to process the EXP you gained from the battle,” said Concordia. “I remember father talking about this, mentioning that this sensation is similar to drinking strong coffee and advised us not to battle past 2:00 PM or else we won’t be able to sleep. But then, I remember seeing him battle way past that, so I don’t know if that’s true.”

“Son of a Bisharp!” muttered Colress under his breath, because he had plans to sleep tonight.

“You know pokémon moves too?!” asked the boy, as he turned to Concordia.

“Of course, let me demonstrate,” said Concordia, as she closed her eyes and meditated. Suddenly, seven glowing swords encircled her and spinned before disappearing. The boy could feel Concordia’s Attack rise sharply. She opened her eyes which were glowing. Everyone’s pokémon felt her Attack increase too, especially the Drapion who was planning on bursting out of the pokéball but Concordia inadvertently intimidated it.

They arrived at Shopping Mall Nine within a few minutes. At this time, Colress’ Rotom once again called the boy’s mom, so they could inform her that they had arrived and tracked her down to the 5th section of the mall’s parking lot. 

The boy’s mom got out of her 1990s black Baltoyota sedan and hurried to Colress’ white Volcswagen van. The boy stepped out of the van, wearing the hazmat suit, making her realize why N wanted to buy the boy some new clothes. But she didn’t care, she was happy to be reunited with her son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * Colress had that shower kit in his van because he used to live and work out of his van before Team Plasma hired him.
>   * N knows how to drive, but he prefers to walk, bike, skateboard, etc. 
>   * One of my friends was trying to explain that Ghetsis’ canon cult was called “Plasmanity” and by that logic, Pokemon!Christmas should be called “Plasmas”. Except here, Ghetsis didn’t create Plasmanity. It’s a 2000 year old regional religion that Ghetsis and his family have been devoted to all their lives.
> 



	9. Commerce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N and Concordia do some shopping.

The boy’s mom was in no hurry to leave, and accepted N’s generous offer to buy her son replacement clothes, even though she didn’t think it was necessary. (She was overjoyed to be reunited with her son, even if he was in filthy rags.) She waited with Colress and her son, in Colress’ van, as N and Concordia headed to Shopping Mall Nine.

Since they didn’t want to keep the boy’s mother waiting, the siblings could only go to one store to get their shopping done quickly. Their high-class mentality made them unanimously decide to go to Miency’s.

Miency’s was a high-end Unovan department store chain, and was located on the second floor at Shopping Mall Nine. (However, it’s flagship store was located in Castelia City, where Meincy’s famous extravagant holiday parades take place.)

N and Concordia entered the store and headed straight to the men’s section, specifically the clearance section. Both were appalled by the state of the store; clothes thrown on the ground or hastily thrown back on the display tables without folding. And random items, like plushies, being left in the wrong sections.

"We should've gone to Drilburlington Coat Factory," sighed N.

"No…," replied Concordia. "That store is much worse this time of year. Many shoppers are blinded by their greed, that they disrespect the retail workers and fellow their customers like this, in their search for a bargain." 

Fortunately, the siblings were able to find heavily discounted shirts and pants for Colress and the boy. Concordia held the clothes as N proceeded to fold a few balled up shirts on the display tables. As he worked, Concordia's gaze was drawn to a lightweight black bathrobe with a Hydreigon design on it. 

She looked at N, who sighed. The bathrobe was clearly something their father would love, so they went ahead and picked it up since it was in his size too. The bathrobe was lovely and looked like something they weren't going to be able to find on the weekend. Concordia went ahead and grabbed it.

Concordia managed to drag N to the perfume section and asked the saleswoman at the counter, “Excuse me, do you carry HitmonChanel N°5 in 3.4 oz?”

“Yes ma’am,” replied the saleswoman as she went behind the counter and handed Concordia the boxed perfume. “It comes with this complimentary makeup bag and pokémon accessories too.” The saleswoman pulled out a small pink and lavender makeup bag, that had the two stylized Hitmonchan gloves. The saleswoman unzipped the makeup bag to reveal six matching bows for the pokémon in Concordia's party. (Of course, additional bows were available for purchase separately.)

“Thank you,” replied Concordia. There was a student in her Unovan Government class who liked to wear this perfume, which she liked and assumed her sister would like too. 

The saleswoman looked at N, and said, “We also have a new fragrances for men, just in time for Plasmas. These are made specifically for the refined Unovan gentleman."

She pointed at the black, white, and gray bottles behind the counter and handed N some perfume samples. They had a soft fragrance, as preferred by typical Unovans.

Meanwhile, Colress, the boy, and the boy’s mom waited for the Harmonias to finish up their shopping. She couldn’t help but notice that Concordia had a small Team Plasma keychain on her bookbag’s zipper.

“Are you guys part of Team Plasma, by any chance?” asked the mom.

“Yes ma’am,” replied Colress. “I know what you’re thinking, that out of all the people in Unova, the only ones who bothered to track down your missing son where the ‘regional villains’. And you don’t know how to feel about this.”

The boy’s mom looked at Colress, acknowledging that he was correct.

Colress continued, “Now ask yourself, are we _truly_ the bad guys here? Despite what us Unovans are taught from a young age, the world isn’t black and white. After all, Team Plasma was founded as a pokémon rights organization by a group of socially awkward college students in the mid-1980s. These kids were tired of seeing cruelty towards pokémon and decided to take a stand. A lot of people were upset when they realized these kids had a point and have slandered them ever since.”

“I thought Team Plasma was a cult,” said the mom.

“They’re not,” said Colress. “They’re just a church group because all of the original founders ended up getting ordained as Plasman priests, and rebranded their organization like this. Their processions and chanting in Ancient Unovan isn’t even as close to 'cultish' as that public school ritual of pledging allegiance to the region that regular school kids do every morning.”

“You have very strong opinions,” said the mom.

“I know and many of them just happen to be the same as Team Plasma’s too,” replied Colress. 

“Fair enough,” replied the mom.

N and Concordia had finished their shopping, but due to Concordia’s insistence, they stopped at the food court and ordered some veggie wraps. As far as Concordia was concerned, the boy hadn’t eaten a proper meal. After picking up the wraps, they headed for the van. 

Colress’ Rotom released the boy’s phone and looked out of the window, to see N and Concordia approaching the van with their shopping bags in hand. Rotom signalled to Colress to open the doors, as N pulled out the shirt, pants, socks, clogs, and underwear he had bought for the boy. The boy and his mom were both surprised that these were all new name-brand clothing.

The boy hurried to change as the mom said to N, “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” replied N, who crumpled up the receipt in his hand, as Concordia handed Colress a bag with his clothes inside.

Colress looked in the bag and saw a new black polo-style shirt with the little Totodile logo embroidered on it. There was also a new white lab coat and some black slacks. He smiled and asked quietly, “Is this coming out of my paycheck?”

“What? No!” gasped Concordia, “You went to go take my brother back home, not expecting to battle a pokémon yourself. N feels responsible for ruining your clothes. You owe us nothing.”

“Thank you,” replied Colress bashfully.

The boy and his mom, who put the old torn clothes in the shopping bag stepped out of the van. N handed them a bag with their veggie wraps and bid them farewell, as he stepped back into the van with Concordia and Colress. This time, Concordia took the driver’s seat and headed back home, as the boy and his mom looked on.

Hungry, the boy got his veggie wrap and began to eat it. His mom took her wrap and ate it too, as they made their way back to her car. She turned to her son and said, “That green-haired boy’s face looks familiar. I know I’ve seen him before.”

“They called him ‘N’,” replied the boy as he finished up his wrap and sat in the passenger side. He slipped his hand in his pant pockets and felt a dollar bill. He pulled it out and saw it was $50, with a note attached to it. The note read, “For a new bike.”

The mom’s eyes opened when she saw the $50 bill, shocked that these Team Plasma members didn’t think twice about giving away so much money. (The truth was that this was the same $50 that Iris had given N earlier that day. N felt he didn’t deserve it, but as he was driving to Opelucid University, he realized he left behind the boy’s damaged bicycle in the forest. $50 wasn’t enough for a new bicycle but at least it was a significant discount.)

“Wait a minute,” said the mom. “N…like ‘Natural’. This boy is the Team Plasma King. No wonder he’s rich.” 

Her son felt stupid for not figuring it out sooner, especially when he saw N speaking in pokémon to his Froslass and Colress' Rotom. After all, N's legitimacy to the throne came about as a combination of his royal Harmonia blood and being able to speak to the dragon of truth – Reshiram.

Meanwhile, Concordia fast-traveled to Route 23, (in other words, she went-off road to get there faster. Because Team Plasma never cared for following the rules anyway.) Halfway up the route, they spotted the local hotdog vendor, and Concordia pulled over and parked nearby.

The hotdog vendor was a short woman with salt-and-pepper hair, roughly Ghetsis’ age. She usually set up her cart in the middle of Route 23, although sometimes she went up north near Victory Road. She’d been a vendor in this particular area for the past fifteen years. Part of her success was due to being a former Team Plasma grunt back in the late 1980s. She had left Team Plasma because she wanted to further her career. But realizing that the career she chose was unfulfilling, she decided to become a hotdog vendor instead. She asked Ghetsis for permission to set up her cart in the area and donated a reasonable portion of her profits to Team Plasma. She was accompanied by her Arcanine and her Houndoom, whom she insists protect her business.

Concordia asked Colress, “Do you want anything?”

N got out of the van, and greeted the vendor and her two pokémon. N had seen them on his trips many times and heard nothing but good things about the vendor from Arcanine and Houndoom, named Winry and Helga, respectively.

Turning her head away, before burping, Helga the Houndoom said to N, “Good afternoon. We are selling burgers again, if you’re interested.” She pointed at the sign the vendor had on her cart, which listed the reasonable prices.

“I would like two hotdogs,” replied N, “not sure what my sister wants. Hold on.”

Concordia approached them and said, “I’d like three hotdogs.”

“Actually, make that six,” said N, since he thought the hotdogs were too small, even though it was his appetite that was too big.

The vendor accepted their payment and started preparing their order. Winry the Arcanine got up and stretched her legs, before walking over to N and sniffing him. She whispered to N, “Your majesty, I handed the tribute…I mean ‘donation’ to your Arcanine about an hour ago. He looked awfully busy, so I’m not sure if he was able to present it to your father.”

Annoyed, N whispered back, as he affectionately petted her, “Why must we do these transactions in secret?”

Confused by N’s question, Arcanine said, “Because of taxes. If my trainer makes over a certain amount, she may receive an inadequate tax refund. Also, Team Plasma is required to list every single donation they receive since you guys follow strict guidelines to maintain your 'nonprofit charitable organization' status.”

N's eyes widened.

"Pardon me, your majesty, but surely you understand how taxes work," said Arcanine as she turned her head. "It's very complicated arithmetic that only humans and Psychic-type pokémon can comprehend."

"Of course," said N. "I've been doing taxes for Team Plasma members since I was 13. Well, at least the calculations. The Seven Sages filled out the rest of the forms for everybody. I didn't think this matter was that complex." 

Arcanine smiled gently. She had no idea how to tell N he was unprepared to rule. But she couldn't blame him for it either. From what she understood, Ghetsis was the most naïve and innocent man in all of Unova. (Because that's the only kind of man who'd make speeches begging the public to release their pokémon. And then he'd trust that the public wasn't going to catch replacements later after the emotions from his speeches died down, because his words touched their hearts.) Fortunately Ghetsis, at least when he was younger, was an open-minded man, that he changed his strategy when a couple of grunts confronted him with their reasonable concerns. Arcanine's trainer was one of these grunts.

The hotdogs were done and the siblings decided to add toppings before getting back in the van and bidding the hotdog vendor and her pokémon farewell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * This chapter was clearly written last December because I went Christmas shopping with my mom and needed to rant about the mess I saw at Macy's.
>   * Speaking of which, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was still in my mind. I’m not aware of such a thing being mentioned in other Gen 5 fics, since they seem to focus on the characters more. Since this game takes place in New York, it’s very appropriate to incorporate it into the world-building here.
>   * Me and one of my friends generally agree that Team Plasma seems like it was founded with good intentions that have since gotten corrupted.
>   * I just wanted an adorable hotdog vendor NPC with two “hot dog” companions and it turned into tax jokes, but that’s the nature of my storytelling style.
> 



	10. Unwinding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After coming back home and eating his hotdogs, N checks up on some pokémon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me start this chapter off with some more world-building.

When they finally returned to the castle, they spotted Ghetsis sitting outside on a large towel, accompanied by his Eelektross and Liepard. He had his hair tied back, he wore a white eyepatch and an old black Team Plasma shirt with jeans. In front of him and his pokémon were several rechargeable batteries.

Rechargeable batteries had been around since the Steampunk Era, (which took place in the mid-19th century). Their purpose was to collect and harness Electric pokémon’s electricity as a power source for mechanical appliances such as fans. In the later part of the Steampunk Era, it was discovered that batteries could be used to power self-propelled carriages. (This revolutionized transportation and commerce, since electricity was more powerful and efficient than steam.) The modern car battery, which was what Ghetsis had in hand, was first developed in the 1930s.

These modern car batteries were usually taken to a battery shop to be recharged by professionals with their specially trained Electric-type pokémon. But then, there are also people who _insist_ they can recharge the batteries themselves at home with their own Electric-type pokémon, like what Ghetsis was trying to do. (These people often have varied results.) 

Eelektross grabbed two batteries, which prompted Ghetsis to pick up his Liepard and carry her away. Once they were at a safe distance Eelektross used Wild Charge to fully charge both batteries at once. He repeated this with another pair of batteries, until he spotted Colress’ van and stopped.

Ghetsis noticed Concordia behind the wheel and narrowed his eyes. She got out of the car and waved at him, before she went to the passenger side, to help N and Colress get out of the van. He put down his Liepard and hurried over to them, since he noticed they were carrying shopping bags. As he approached, his Hydreigon, Natural, got out of his ball and hurried to his trainer. 

Natural opened his lesser left mouth, coughing out a black and white stone into Ghetsis’ hands.

“Thank you,” said Ghetsis as he took the stone and placed it inside his pants pocket. 

"What is that, father?" asked Concordia. "A few weeks ago, Gardevoir gave me one of those stones as a gift."

"This is a very rare evolution stone called a 'Unova Stone'," replied Ghetsis. "It is an all-purpose evolution stone, except it only works on certain pokémon that are native to our region. Sinnoh has a similar stone called the 'Sinnoh Stone'. It does the same thing but for Sinnohan pokémon. When you get settled, bring me your stone so we could store in the vault."

"Yes father," replied Concordia as Ghetsis helped them unload their cargo from Colress' van.

Sage Rood, who was looking at them from an upper story window, pulled out his walkie talkie, and ordered some grunts to assist the Harmonias below.

The grunts hurried to help Concordia, and Ghetsis resumed his battery recharging project. He looked through a Team Plasma backpack he carried, and sprayed his Eelektross with a Super Potion. N, Concordia, and Colress sat nearby and ate their hotdogs.

After finishing his first hotdog, N asked, “Father, did Arcanine bring you anything?”

“Yes, he brought me a cheeseburger with extra Tamato Berry slices,” replied Ghetsis. “It was exquisite; better than what they sell at McMimes.” N could see it in his father’s eyes that he had received his donation and was pleased the transaction went according to plan.

“I need to go to McMimes one of these days and compare,” said Concordia, as she regretted not taking the time to look at the menu and get a burger for herself. “But not tomorrow, we have that photo-shoot.”

“Photo-shoot?” asked Colress.

“Yes,” said N, who paused to take a deep breath because he often spoke too fast when he was excited or nervous. “Every year, around this time, we have our annual family photo taken for Plasmas, courtesy of the Unovan Historical Society. We dress up in beautiful regalia and pose in the same way like in those antique paintings we have in the hallways. I believe they will also bring in a ‘talented artist’ to paint our family portrait as well, since I’ve been officially recognized as King of Unova. They believe such an event must be immortalized on canvas.” N closed his eyes, since he felt he was vibrating with excitement.

Ghetsis tried not to think of it as he equipped his insulating gloves. The last thing he needed was to distract himself with wandering thoughts because these batteries were high voltage. He grabbed the batteries and moved them to the cart without a problem, resuming his work. 

N, Concordia, and Colress entered the castle, heading to their rooms, after they finished their meal and discarded the trash. N entered his room and said cheerfully, “I’m back home!”

Reshiram, who was lying down on N’s skateboarding halfpipe because the incline made for a good recliner, replied, “Welcome back.”

"Where is everyone?" asked N, as he placed the shopping bag he carried on a table and pulled out two brushes. 

Although he had told his sister that they were only going to stop by one store, he remembered that Shopping Mall Nine had plenty of boutiques that specialize in selling items for the 18 different pokémon types. In this case, N went to the Dragon-type shop to purchase a brush for Reshiram, to keep his long silky mane from tangling.

"They went down to the kitchen, to help prepare dinner," said Reshiram. "I have never cooked or helped in the kitchen. It's best if I stay out of their way, for now."

"Yes, you've told me that before," replied N. "I really should figure out my schedule, like father does, so I could find time to teach you. You wouldn't believe how much we had to move around, just so Natural could visit his daughter today."

"Was that visit really important?" asked Reshiram.

"Yes," said N, as he grabbed one of the brushes and began to brush his own hair. "Because family is important, and this includes our pokémon friends, because they're family too. Natural is father's closest friend, he would do anything for him. So he insisted that it be done."

"That's fair," replied Reshiram. He was surprised by what N told him. His first impression of Ghetsis was that he was a selfish and egotistical man unworthy of the crown. However, he was taken aback by Ghetsis' words to him a few months ago during their unexpected trip.

From what Reshiram remembered, Ghetsis had gotten annoyed that he wouldn't listen to him. Without warning, Ghetsis said to him, "You are as useful as my son. If I was given a choice, I'd have left you behind in Unova and taken Eelektross instead. Now there is a good, loyal, selfless friend who is always willing to help. I deeply regret not bringing him along. I've learned too late that truth and humility aren't synonymous. Expecting a pokémon who only listens to kings to be humble was a foolish mistake."

Reshiram had heard much about Ghetsis from other random pokémon; that he was a shrewd, petty, sharp-tongued, manipulative human. Some pokémon admired him, and others hated him; just like the humans did. However, no one told Reshiram that Ghetsis was the type who'd dare to weaponize his truths to attack others with them. Offended and caught off-guard, Reshiram prepared his attack. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that N asked him to protect his father on his trip and by attacking him, he would break his promise to N.

When they abruptly returned to Unova, Reshiram complained to N about his father’s comments. N seemed disappointed with what had occurred and apologized on his father's behalf. During that time, his father was still sick and hadn't slept well. N had grown up seeing his father being courteous to others, even towards the undeserving opposition. (Something N tried to emulate but struggled with because of his compulsion to be straightforward and honest.) To N, this snide remark was out of character but understandable.

After finishing up, N put away his brush and walked over to his dresser and changed into his pajamas, which consisted of some lightweight baggy black shorts and an oversized yellow t-shirt, that had a Emolga triumphantly posing together with a fat Pikachu, on it. As much as he liked the outfit he had worn to the gym and the mall, it wasn’t nearly as comfortable as his pajamas.

“N, I have a question that I’ve been meaning to ask you,” said Reshiram.

“Go ahead,” replied N, who began to stretch his arms, which popped softly.

Leaning over, so that he made eye-contact with N, Reshiram asked, “Why is the décor in your room so…childish? It looks so out of place compared to the rest of the castle. I’ve seen your sisters’ room too and its décor fits the castle’s aesthetic. Is this truly a bedroom fit for a king?”

Knowing he could not lie to the dragon of truth, N replied, “It’s too much of a hassle to redecorate. I love my indoor basketball court, my halfpipe, my big building bricks…” N smiled nervously and said, “This is also the biggest bedroom in the castle. I’m convinced that this was meant to be the master bedroom, but things got moved around.”

N began to explain that the moving likely happened back in the 1950s, shortly after his great-grandfather passed away. The room was emptied out and the furnishings redistributed to other rooms. Some Unovans had a custom to rearrange their rooms if someone passed away at home. N assumed that this was the case. He had asked his father about the history of the room, but his father was unsure. All his father knew was that the large room was empty, and both his grandmother and mother didn’t appreciate him asking about it. By chance, N discovered the truth when he was studying some unrelated texts in the castle library. He found a small copy of the castle's blueprints tucked between the pages of an outdated atlas. 

Walking over to a large framed poster that had the Team Plasma emblem on it, N grabbed the corner and flipped it over, revealing the blueprints he had found. As Reshiram looked at the blueprints, N asked, “May I brush your mane?”

Reshiram paused and after a few seconds he replied, “Of course.”

Grabbing the unused brush, N began to brush Reshiram. N was the first person, in centuries, to groom Reshiram that he had nearly forgotten how nice it felt. N suddenly gasped and said, “I was supposed to help father assess the Foongi.”

Meanwhile, Ghetsis was out in the garden with his daughters. He had to stop because his right arm had gone numb but with a deep throbbing pain. None of them seemed to mind that N was resting in his room. As he was observing his daughters work, Ghetsis pulled out his phone and attempted to text N.

N’s phone beeped and he stopped to check it. Ghetsis sent him a text which read, “May you please go check on Stoutland? Her eggs are close to hatching.” N excused himself and hurried to his father’s room, which was just down the hallway.

As he approached the room, Bouffalant opened the door, letting N inside. N saw Stoutland standing away from the nest to observe the hatching from a safe distance. 

The first egg, the one with the daisy pattern, began to shake and its shell began to crack. Energy seemed to come from within the egg and then as the egg burst, the energy materialized into a newborn Lillipup. N went to grab the Lillipup, since the egg with the heart was also getting ready to hatch. 

Stoutland asked N, “Would you like to name her?”

“Not yet,” replied N, as he carefully placed the newborn Lillipup on the ground behind Stoutland. “The same with the other one, because I’m bad at naming.”

The other egg also exploded and a light-brown newborn puppy pokémon, that N had never seen before, materialized. He checked his pokédex and it identified this other newborn as Yamper, the Puppy pokémon. As soon as the nest was deenergized, N carefully placed the Lillipup back in the nest, so she could cuddle with her sibling. Stoutland noticed N’s concerned expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Yampers are from Galar,” said N. “There is an embargo on Galarian pokémon. They are not permitted to leave their region due to their endangered status.”

“That suave Boltund has been in Unova since before that embargo,” replied Stoutland. "He's teamed up with one of the sages, Gorm, I believe."

“If that is the case, we must take him and Yamper to the professor for registration,” sighed N. “Team Plasma cannot afford to have accusations of illegally smuggling banned pokémon.”

“Your father didn’t take those triplets he found to the officials for registration,” scoffed Stoutland, as she guided her puppies to nurse.

“People in this region are more concerned about missing pokémon than they are about missing children,” replied N. “Actually, the whole world is like this. It’s almost as if people think that raising pokémon is a higher priority than raising a child.”

“No wonder so many humans are cruel,” replied Stoutland. “Not all of them are as lucky as you to have a loving father. Especially one who has plenty of reasons to avoid other humans at all costs and yet he had chosen to follow through on his responsibility. Don’t get me wrong; you are a good human. Your upbringing has served to bring out your fullest potential. It was a good thing your father found those boys. Otherwise, they’d be vulnerable and fall into the hands of wicked people who’d take advantage of their natural stealth, forcing them to commit crimes.”

Uncomfortable with the tone of the conversation, N asked, “May I take a photo of the babies to show father?”

“Yes, but don’t use that light,” said Stoutland. “It'll hurt their eyes.”

N squatted down and took photos with his phone without flash, sending them as attachments to his father, who was quick to reply with several heart emojis.

He still could not think of a name but was flattered that Stoutland asked him to give her newborn puppies nicknames. Normally her trainer, Ghetsis, would be given that honor. But N was oblivious that the pokémon living in the castle had all unanimously decided that Ghetsis was terrible at coming up with names. To this day, many of them are convinced that N’s name is just N because Ghetsis couldn’t think of anymore letters to string together and make up a “word”. Stoutland knew N’s name was a nickname for “Natural”, since he was named after Ghetsis' Hydreigon, but she still thought it was an ugly name and agreed that Ghetsis was bad at naming. 

After speaking to Stoutland and Bouffalant for a bit, N returned to his room and resumed brushing Reshiram until it was time for dinner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * Reshiram asked N about the importance of Natural visiting his daughter, just to test N and see what kind of reply he’d give him. Just like the time where he said he was going to burn down all of Unova and N begged him to reconsider.
>   * Imagine being a rare, powerful, coveted dragon and being told by some doll-like man that his common eel is better than you.
> 



	11. Repast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N has dinner with his family.

It was time for dinner, which was prepared by everyone at the castle as a team effort. Ghetsis had stopped since his right hand had gone numb again and went to wait in the dining room. He had grabbed some pieces of dried meat balled up into a paper towel. He handed the paper towel to his Eelektross and said to him, "Please take this to Stoutland."

Eelektross grabbed the meat and went to take it to her. Hydreigon's right head hissed at Ghetsis. 

Ghetsis replied nonchalantly, "The meat’s scent is enticing and I’m certain you’d only present her with the smell on the paper towel." He reached over with his left hand and playfully squeezed the right head's muzzle.

Being Ghetsis' pokémon, Eelektross unlocked the door and found Stoutland drinking water out of her bowl. He placed the paper towel with the meat on it, on the ground and said to her, "Our friend asked me to bring you this."

"Much obliged," replied Stoutland, who had placed a few egg shells on an old newspaper. "N missed these. They had flown under the bed.” She noticed Eelektross staring at her and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I wanted to make sure you were alright,” replied Eelektross. “I’ve heard that eggs practically explode as they hatch; at least, that’s the excuse the Pokémon League uses to encourage hatching with incubators.”

Having had other puppies in the past, Stoutland said, “They do explode, but you could feel the energy growing stronger from within the egg. It gives you plenty of time to get up and retreat to a safe distance. I’m surprised that N arrived just in time; how did he know?”

“Our friend must’ve sent him a written message,” replied Eelektross. “I saw him write something on his phone while he was resting in the garden.”

“Should’ve known,” said Stoutland. “He’s been visiting me often to check up on me. He’s seen so many hatches, he can probably guess when it’s going to occur.” Stoutland chuckled as she ate the meat. 

Eelektross headed back to the dining room, taking the eggshells with the newspaper. When he returned, he saw the trainers, the sages and the grunts, serving food in the pokémon bowls. (Even though there were tables for pokémon to sit at and eat, many felt more comfortable eating from bowls on the ground.) Eelektross handed Ghetsis the newspaper with the eggshells. 

Colress sat across the table from Ghetsis, with both his plate and Ghetsis' plate in hand. Before, Ghetsis could reply, N arrived with his plate and sat next to him. N wanted to be close to his father. Grabbing his plate from Colress, Ghetsis said softly, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," replied Colress. 

"How is your hand, father?" asked N.

"It's numb, it feels rubbery, and I can't hold anything with it," said Ghetsis. "If I were to bump it, the stinging pain would be unbearable. This is why you shouldn't learn too many moves, my king. I'd hate for you to suffer like me. This pain has worsened with age." Unable to hide his feelings, Ghetsis winced since his hand began to cramp again.

Ghetsis closed his eyes tightly, too embarrassed to mention that he also had difficulty standing up while he was in the garden. Had it not been for the fact his daughters had been keeping an eye on him, he would've attempted to blast the ground, so the recoil could help him stand upright. (A dangerous act that had a high probability of injury.) Fortunately, both girls were quick to help him stand up when they saw him struggle. He was once the most physically powerful man in all of Unova, but not anymore due to his declining physical state and this reality wounded his ego. And worst of all, there was nothing he could do about it, except suffer in silence.

Trying to change the subject, Ghetsis said, "These eggshell shards landed beneath the furniture." He showed N the eggshells in the newspaper. "When you finish, please go dispose them with the rest of the shards."

Colress looked at his food. The Harmonias preferred eating their meat well-done, which was a problem for Colress because the meat was tough and difficult to chew. He felt his teeth recoil in pain when Ghetsis mentioned that his own pain worsened with age. Colress politely removed his gloves and rolled up his sleeves before pulling out his switchblade, and cutting the meat into very fine shreds. He tried not to think of the possibility of being unable to eat solid food if he ever reached his 40s; Colress was almost 30.

N, who had grabbed the piece of meat with his bare hands, smiled sheepishly; momentarily forgetting that gentlemen used cutlery. He looked over at his father, who was holding his piece of meat with his left hand. Ghetsis was only using his fork for the peas, which were too small to hold, and his spoon for the boiled beans. Nobody minded or cared if they used their hands or forks, it was a laid back atmosphere. In fact, N wasn't the only person in the dining room who had donned their pajamas.

Nonchalantly, N said, "Mayor Drayden thought we were purely vegetarian. He was surprised when he saw me pull out jerky out of my bag."

Ghetsis finished swallowing and drank some water, before replying, "The misconception is understandable. However, many pokémon species use their attacks to hunt prey, and _then_ they bring us their catch so we could cook it for them. The number of times this happened when I was your age, traveling around the countryside was innumerable. I'm sure the same has happened to you." He turned to Anthea, who had sat at his right hand side, and asked, "How was your rotation? We were so busy, I forgot to ask you earlier."

"I passed the clinical," sighed Anthea. "I still have one more to do. Hopefully, they'd send me somewhere closer to home after the Plasmas break."

Anthea's Gothitelle, who was sitting at the pokémon table, overheard her trainer. She had been worried about this too. From what she perceived, the schedulers were debating sending her to Floccesy Town, just north of Aspertia City, where she had _just_ finished this last rotation. That was practically on the other side of the region.

During their rotations, Anthea's classmates had rented apartments in the town or city they were stationed in. Anthea tried to join them, but her homesickness was overpowering that she needed to go back home for the evening. Calling her family at night, like the others did, wasn't the same. She was fortunate that her father was able to accommodate her. Even if this setup inconvenienced everyone at the castle, because it was far away and she needed to be there, on time, way before the crack of dawn.

Zinzolin arrived with his plate and sat next to Colress. He had overheard Anthea's conversation as he approached their table and asked, "Lady Anthea, is it true that when you graduate, you'll receive your own Audino?"

"Yes sir," replied Anthea. "I don't know how to feel about this. I want to decline it, but if I accept it, I know I would do my best to treat it well."

"Did you know that Audino is the only native Unovan pokémon that can Mega Evolve?" Asked Zinzolin. "If you had an Audinite and your friendship was high-enough, it will become more powerful in battle during its Mega Evolution. But you don't battle, though. Still, it is something to keep in mind if you're considering accepting the Audino."

"Accept it," replied Ghetsis. "That way, you, Gothitelle, and Audino can work together as a trine. These Audinos have been trained in medicine since their infancy. They're good to have around in case of an emergency."

"Yes, father," said Anthea.

"Excuse me," said Concordia, "I thought pokémon nurses used Chanseys. At least, that's how it is in the movies."

"We live in Unova," chuckled Anthea. "Healthcare, for both humans and pokémon is severely underfunded, _especially_ for the former. I remember some girls asking Nurse Joy when they'd get their Chanseys, but she told us that we use Audinos instead. Of course, she explained why Audino is superior to Chansey and their entire evolutionary line. However, in my own research, I discovered that Audinos are cheaper to raise, so it's a pragmatic choice. But she didn't need to slander the poor Chanseys like she did. It's not their fault that humans 'over-harvested' their eggs to the point that they're both extremely rare in the wild and in captivity."

"Sounds like she's bitter about not having a Chansey like all the other foreign Nurse Joys," replied Colress.

"Exactly," replied Anthea. "But those Republic sympathizers, which I suspect that particular Nurse Joy of being, don't like it when Unova is criticized or compared to better regions."

"That's how they are," sighed Ghetsis. "They think our region is wonderful and perfect, unless their opponents have the majority of votes and win. They're especially bothered because we at Team Plasma, all support Democracy."

As soon as Ghetsis turned his head to reach over for the peas on his left hand side, Zinzolin placed his index finger over his lips, silently ordering Anthea to drop the conversation. The last thing he wanted to see was his leader getting riled up over regional politics. (Especially since being in pain, made it difficult for him to discuss the matter with civility.)

"Gothitelle has informed me that the nursing program directors are planning on making me give the graduation speech," said Anthea. "They assume that I must be naturally good at giving speeches because I'm your daughter but I'm scared."

"I'm sure your father, Sage Ghetsis, can give you advice about speeches," said Zinzolin. "It's his specialty."

Suddenly struck by a sudden cramp, Ghetsis said, "Anthea, your first public presentation will always be the most difficult. If you manage to trick the audience into thinking you're calm and collected, everything else will work out."

"My fellow Sage of the King," replied Zinzolin. "Your first speech on behalf of Team Plasma brought everyone to tears, as did N's inaugural speech. How could Anthea possibly compete with that?"

"No…," gasped Ghetsis. "My first ever speech was back in 1976 after my coronation at the Grand Cathedral in Nimbasa City. All my other speeches pale in comparison. But I've forgotten what happened after I was crowned. I hope it stays forgotten, because it's been nearly 35 years. At least Mother was proud of me because everything went perfectly."

Everyone at the table, but N, looked at each other uncomfortably. They had no idea how to feel about what Ghetsis had inadvertently revealed to them. Their faith in Ghetsis was shaken because they all believed he was a strong, naturally charming, and charismatic man. As for N, his father had told him the anecdote in private, a few weeks ago. To know his father was scared just like him and valued informing the public of the truth over his own comfort, encouraged and motivated N for his own public presentations. For this reason, he couldn't help but feel disgusted over everyone else's reactions. He wanted to reprimand everyone, but that seemed like something his pacifist father would never approve of, so N maintained his brooding silence. 

The pokémon nearby sensed N's mood change, even Ghetsis felt N's anger, that his cramping stopped. Thinking fast, Ghetsis reached over and grabbed a Cornn Berry muffin, offering it to N. The gentle gesture diffused N's anger, and taking a bite out of it, got rid of the rest.

Reshiram looked over at N and shook his head. N loved his father so much that he wouldn't hesitate to defend his honor. Reshiram wondered if Ghetsis felt the same way, because he proved difficult to read by having such an anxious and chaotic aura. One minute he seemed like the peaceful benevolent man that N admired and desired to become someday. The next minute, Ghetsis was a ravenous beast who gobbled up dozens of Rare GO Candies and lapping up Stardust because he wanted to learn yet another move to become the very best that no one ever was. 

Fortunately, Ghetsis no longer ate Rare GO Candies or Stardust, because every time he tried to eat them, he got sick and nauseous. Recently, he had begun to find their taste disgustingly vile, that they immediately made him gag. It seemed that no one in the castle was aware of him doing this. For a second, Reshiram wondered if this was yet another serious problem that Ghetsis was quietly suffering from and everyone else was desperately trying to ignore its existence because they all practically venerated their idealized image of him. To think their calm, lovely, charming, and charismatic leader was a stressed, flawed, and troubled man was utterly disillusioning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * I called them [Rare GO Candies](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Rare_Candy#Pok.C3.A9mon_GO) to distinguish them from the regular main game [Rare Candies](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Rare_Candy). Ghetsis ate the rainbow ones from PoGo since he cannot physically produce his own candies because people don’t make them naturally.
>   * Drayden suffers from severe sleep apnea due to his cursed tongue that balls up inside his mouth. (Should’ve mentioned it earlier, but he has a mouth deformity only because his beard completely covers up his mouth as if he’s trying to hide something weird.)
>   * N pulled out his jerky out of his bag somewhere between Chapter 5 and 6.
>   * Just in case you don’t know which of N’s sisters is who, Concordia is the blonde and Anthea is the pink-haired one. This is why the pink-haired studying to be a nurse is a “joke”. She was going to become a bootleg “evil” Nurse Joy. 
>   * The reason Nimbasa City has a Grand Cathedral, in this AU, is because of its proximity to Relic Castle. And yes, Ghetsis was publicly crowned as “Lord” back in 1976 as part of the Unovan Bicentennial celebrations. This wasn’t even on his birthday, as the normal coronations should be, it was done then for politics.
> 



	12. Goodnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone goes to sleep because the day is over.

Even though the Harmonia children were all legally adults, Ghetsis still tucked them in and kissed them goodnight, unless he was feeling unwell. Lately, the pain Ghetsis felt on his accursed deformities flared up in the evenings, that Ghetsis locked himself in his room and didn’t wish his children goodnight. Fortunately, the pain was either on his arm or his eye during the attacks, and not both at once. Since it was affecting his arm, his eye was unaffected. The sensation he felt, was as if his cursed body parts were trying to rip themselves out of his body and he was far too weak to keep them in their place. (The eye pain was much worse than his arm pain because of its proximity to the brain.)

Worried for their father, Anthea and Concordia went to knock on his door, because they made up their minds to wish him goodnight and make sure he was feeling better. This past year has been rather stressful for them, because they didn’t realize how helpless they truly were until they saw their father becoming weaker and they had no idea what to do. Their minds went blank from the stress of panic.

Recognizing their knocking, Ghetsis said, “Come in, the door is unlocked.”

The girls entered the room and saw their father in his pajamas, sitting on his bed trying to brush Hydreigon’s bushy black mane with his left hand. He glanced at them and saw that Anthea was holding the Royal Harmonia Scepter, a priceless family heirloom dating back to the 1780s, when their ancestor became the king of a newly liberated Unova. It was a little more than a yard long, mostly stainless steel and had their family crest, supported by crossed wires, in the center of the hoop.

Ghetsis gasped and cried, “Please put that back where it belongs!”

“But father,” said Anthea, “You are in need of a walking stick and this was the only dignified one we found.” She handed the scepter to Ghetsis.

“This is dangerous,” said Ghetsis as he carefully held the scepter. “The base is loose and underneath…” He carefully unscrewed the base and revealed the épée hidden within. “Let’s just say our ancestors weren’t people to be messed with. Why give pokémon the pleasure of attacking your enemies when you could do it yourself? It seems that Grandfather was an exception, because he didn’t think this way.”

“But you and N are gentle souls like your Grandfather too,” said Concordia.

Ghetsis was speechless because he had no idea how to respond to that. Thinking fast, he placed the scepter on his desk and walked over to hug his daughters. He whispered something to them as he decided walk them back to their rooms to tuck them in. Concerned about his trainer, Hydreigon followed them out of the room.

Meanwhile, N finished cleaning up and brushing his teeth. He opened his room’s door and looked down the hallway. He had gotten concerned because his father should’ve stopped by a while ago, and became concerned that his pain had worsened.

A few minutes later, Ghetsis left his daughters’ room after wishing them goodnight. He was accompanied by his Hydreigon. Ghetsis was mostly well-cloaked in the darkness with the exception of his glowing right eye whose light was dimmed by his monocled eyepatch. While most normal people got creeped out by an unnatural glowing red eye, N found it comforting because it told him that he wasn’t alone in the dark since his father was nearby. His sisters felt the same way.

Since his right eye’s vision was perfect in the darkness, Ghetsis spotted N and whispered as he approached, “My son, we have that photo-shoot tomorrow morning. It’s time to go to sleep. You must rest well or else you’ll have those ugly bags under your eyes, and the photos will look horrible.”

Ghetsis then guided N back to his bed and tucked both N and his Zorua in. N looked at his father and asked, “Do you have enough water for the night?”

Tired and caught off-guard by the question, Ghetsis replied, “I don’t know.”

N’s Timburr overheard the conversation and left to go fetch a 3-gallon water jug from the kitchen. N covered his face and said, “I still have no idea what to wear tomorrow.”

Ghetsis chuckled, “You’ve come a long way from insisting that your Zorua onesie was your Sunday best.”

“Why didn’t you stop me, father?” asked N. "There's a meme online about 'Zorua Boy' and everyone knows it's me!"

“There was no reason to stop you,” replied Ghetsis. “You were very happy and it broke my heart to take that away from you. After all, it was the first photo-shoot we had without your mother. If dressing up like a pokémon made you feel better, it was worth it for me.”

Reshiram, who was lying down on the halfpipe, because it was comfortable, was listening in on the conversation, trying to figure out if Ghetsis was saying the truth because he still didn’t trust him. So far, it was a half-truth. 

Ghetsis wanted his three children to move past their sorrow, but at the same time, he wanted to get back at the people from the Unovan Historical Society. Ghetsis hated being treated as if he were some sort of ornamental doll that’s meant to be fawned over and gawked at. He felt it was an insult to both himself and his family, since this act mocked their importance and political relevance. Out of his strong desire to rebel against those who oppressed them, Ghetsis insisted that N should be allowed to wear his favorite Zorua onesie for the important Plasmas photo-shoot. After all, an upset crying child would ruin the photos more than a happy child cosplaying a pokémon. For this reason, N's onesie was permitted and its adorable oddness was instantly memeable. 

As Reshiram rubbed his temples together with his slender fingers, he looked over and saw that Ghetsis was whispering something sweet-sounding before kissing N on the cheek and wishing him a goodnight. This time, there was no ambiguous signs coming from Ghetsis. It was all a sincere desire to see his child sleep well. Ghetsis left the room with his Hydreigon, quietly whispering, “Goodnight” to the other pokémon who had curled up all over the floor in N's room.

When Ghetsis left, N whistled at his Woobat. When the Woobat came down from the rafters and landed next to him, N whispered, “Check on my sisters if they’ve fallen asleep. If they haven’t you know what to do. And check on father, while you’re at it. He’s been having pain all evening and I know that won’t let him sleep.”

Woobat smiled and flew back into the rafters and making his way to the other rooms. N's Zorua made himself comfortable before curling up near N's chest.

When he flew into Anthea's and Concordia's room, he saw that the sisters were already fast asleep. Their Psychic-type pokémon, Gothitelle and Gardevoir had knocked them out. Both pokémon were getting ready to go to sleep too, since they were going to appear in the photos next to their trainers. Satisfied that they had everything under control, Woobat left and headed to Ghetsis' room. 

Ghetsis' room was difficult to infiltrate, because he had partially sealed-off the rafters so nosy pokémon wouldn't come in to bother him. Fortunately, there was a knock at Ghetsis' door. It was N's Timburr, who was balancing the 3-gallon water jug, that he retrieved from the kitchen, on his log. 

Cofagrigus opened the door to let him inside, and Woobat quietly slipped in unnoticed. Timburr and Cofagrigus switched out the water jugs on the water cooler, as Woobat looked around for Ghetsis. Like N, Ghetsis was surprisingly good at hiding. Woobat spotted Stoutland, who was fast asleep with her newborn puppies. Eelektross was stretched out on the sofa and Bouffalant was curled up on the ground. Finally, it occurred to him to actually check the bed, which was large, ornate and was covered by a canopy. 

Woobat peeked through the canopy and saw Hydreigon curled up next to someone who was completely covered by the fluffy cream-colored comforter. He saw a faint red light coming from the top part of the comforter, near the head of the bed. Without warning, Hydreigon's heads moved and stared down at Woobat. 

Annoyed, Hydreigon hissed quietly, "My human friend is asleep. Don't bother him and go away."

The comforter moved slightly and the faint sound of a turned page was heard. Hydreigon gasped, as far as he was concerned, he ordered his trainer to sleep and his trainer obeyed him like the good boy that he imagined him to be.

Woobat got close and Yawned at the comforter. The red light turned off and Hydreigon removed the comforter off of Ghetsis, to reveal that he had fallen asleep. In his left hand, was a small prayer book. Overhearing the commotion, Cofagrigus got the prayer book, placed the bookmark ribbon where Ghetsis was reading, and set the book on the nightstand. Seeing that Cofagrigus and Hydreigon had everything under control, Woobat left with Timburr, and headed back to N's room. 

Back in N's room, Froslass was quietly singing a lullaby to N, as she always did. The singing already had its effect on Zorua, who had fallen asleep. N yawned, but since he didn't know the Normal-type move, it was a regular one. And he whispered to Froslass, "I haven't heard that song in years. Mother used to sing it to me. Since she made up the song herself, its lyrics, except the hook, were always different. How did you learn it?"

"Yes," said Froslass, as she nuzzled N goodnight. Before N had a chance to ask again, Woobat flew over N and Yawned at him, knocking him out. Froslass crossed her arms and said to Woobat, “That was not nice.”

“You heard what Lord Ghetsis said,” replied Woobat. “N had to sleep or he’d have ugly bags under his eyes and that would ruin the photos.”

Froslass wasn’t naïve, she knew that this particular Woobat loved to knock others out with his Yawn and often practiced on unsuspecting grunts who were supposed to be sound asleep but were up past midnight, messaging their online friends from other regions on TurTwitter. Suddenly, a thought came to mind and Froslass said, “You know who else would benefit from some much needed rest? That doctor, Colress. He seemed to have leveled up while battling earlier today and he’s been trembling ever since. This isn’t good because a doctor must be well-rested, in case he is needed.”

“Which one is Colress?” asked Woobat.

“The blond one that has a blue curved horn like an Absol,” replied Froslass, “The Grass-types have been calling him ‘ChiColritess’, though.”

“I thought ‘ChiColritess’ was his real name,” gasped Woobat. “I saw him in the dining room cutting his serving of meat into fine strings. You’re absolutely right! He was quite tense during the whole dinner.” Woobat excused himself and went to look for Colress.

Meanwhile, Colress was lying down on his bed with his pokémon out. He had switched to his gray Team Plasma pajamas which were a nice, long sleeved buttoned-down style. (Similar to what Ghetsis was wearing, but not as baggy and without Ghetsis’ signature ocular insignia on both sleeves.) The Team Plasma pajamas were so comfortable that Colress requested an additional set. Yet, they weren’t comfortable enough to make him feel relaxed and sleepy.

His Klinklang was hovering above him, trying to induce hypnosis with its rotating gears in an attempt to lull him to sleep. But it wasn’t working. As Colress pondered on what to do next, Woobat entered through the rafters and Yawned at Colress. Unlike the Harmonias and the grunts, Colress wasn’t instantly knocked out. Instead, he became extremely drowsy. Fortunately, this was enough to make him fall asleep since it made the hypnosis from Klinklang’s gears effective.

The only ones, besides the grunts working the night shift, that were still up were the six other sages. However, Ghetsis had made the assumption that they were grown men who didn’t need to be reminded to go to sleep early. (Besides, they took several naps during the day.) Woobat was also aware of this and made up his mind to knock out the sages, since staying up too late was probably the reason why they looked much older than Ghetsis despite being the same age. 

As Woobat made his way to the study where they reunited, he decided to take a detour and accidentally crashed into one of the rafter beams. The force of the impact was so strong and sudden that Woobat fainted. Fortunately, he fell into a decorative bowl and slept off his injury until daybreak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * The épée hidden inside the Royal Harmonia Scepter is a three-sided blade. It’s like this because I feel it’s very appropriate for the Harmonias to own a family heirloom like this that is outlawed by the Geneva Conventions.
>   * The Royal Harmonia Scepter isn't that "cane" that Ghetsis uses in the sequel games. His cane, here, is meant to resemble this heirloom, except it doesn't have a hidden blade. Instead, it's a solid rod because bludgeoning is just as bad as the three-sided blade. 
>   * The children’s mother/Ghetsis’ wife died of a terminal illness. Ghetsis always found it suspicious because many of his relatives died suddenly as he was growing up.
>   * Who needs drugs to induce sleep when you got pokémon?
> 


**Author's Note:**

> This took the whole day to post (mostly from connectivity issues) that AO3 changed the date from 26th to 27th while I was uploading the last couple of chapters. XD
> 
>  **EDIT 25th of February, 2020:** I'm currently working on the direct sequel, which starts off the day after this fic ends. This time, I'm not in a hurry to rush, even though I made a Pokémon HOME reference in it. (I will link it when I complete it.)
> 
> I really need to go back to my robots, but I'm hyperfixated on finishing this story before a Gen 5 remake is announced. X'D


End file.
